Emma Andersen was only 9-years-old when her mother took her to an Austin Symphony Orchestra concert — and she knew almost immediately that she had found her passion.

“When I saw the violins playing, it looked like they were having so much fun together, and I said, ‘I want to do that, too.’”

That love of the instrument has only deepened in the nine years since then. On Sunday, years of hard work and dedication will take her to a solo spot on the stage of the symphony that first inspired her.

Andersen’s early fascination with violin technique, composition and performance started almost immediately. Her parents — Sue and Arik — allowed her to take private lessons from ASO member Jenny Steele. Today, she works every Saturday with noted violinist and St. Mary’s University professor, Bacco Liu.

“I was super curious” from the beginning, she said, as she sat in the orchestra room at AHS. “I was learning all the notes, and I kept thinking, ‘This is so much fun.’”

Her fingers were itching to play, however.  She urged Steele to let her attempt “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”

“I probably didn’t sound super great, but I was having so much fun,” she said with a smile.

Her confidence in performance has come with lots of practice. Today, that means rehearsing two to three hours a day at home, in different rooms, so she can hear how the violin sounds in different areas — and lots of support from teachers, family and fellow musicians. Other private instructors have included Sue Radloff and St. Olaf College professor Charles Gray.

She began to play with ASO when she was in the eighth grade.

“That was intense,” she recalled with a laugh. “It was the Fourth of July concert, and I was super intimidated — these are really great musicians. But the woman sitting next to me was really nice and that helped. But it was a very different level of playing and the music was way harder.

She recalled an early performance as second violin on Handel’s “Messiah.”

“That was an eye-opener,” she said. “I was absolutely terrified. I kept thinking, ‘People are watching me; what if I make a mistake?’”

“Early on, I’d get so nervous, my hands would shake,” she added ruefully. “Not a good thing when you’re playing violin.”

Her experience and practice have allowed her to overcome performance nerves. She’s learned to think ahead about what’s coming in a particular passage, what fingering is required, or what other challenges the music might have.

When she was a freshman at AHS, she was selected to first chair violin at All-State Music.

“Apparently, it was rare that a freshman got into All-State; when I heard I was first violin, I remember thinking, ‘What?!’” she said. She has since earned Best in Site honors as well. She has been an All-State pick every year since and concertmaster of the chamber orchestra at the Dorian Festival two years in a row. This year, she was soloist at the event.

Those competitive experiences have helped to drive her performance, she said.

“They have been some of the best times I’ve had; you get to play high-level music with some of the best conductors,” she said. “It is a good challenge for me, when I go to a contest like that. I always go to learn something new. That’s really beneficial for me, to learn those things that will help me do my best.”

Gene Schott, orchestra teacher and conductor at Austin High School, has watched Andersen grow as a musician.

“She is an amazing violinist; her growth over her four years here has been nothing short of astonishing,” he said.

Schott said her “technical mastery of her instrument has grown exponentially,” he added. “She takes it to a whole other level. And, as good a violinist as she is, she’s an even better person.”

Her playing has not only earned her a solo spot with the ASO — where she will play Bruch’s Concerto — it has also fired her hope to someday make a living in music performance. She knows the risks, but that would be her dream, she said.

“But, I honestly don’t know; music can be really unpredictable,” she said. “I would love to be a member of a quartet, travel around the country. I love chamber music. I just love to perform.”

While music has always been her passion, she does other things. She is a member of the Knowledge Bowl Team and she works at the Pizza Ranch in Austin – a job she loves. While she says she is not a huge fan of popular music, she enjoys Pentatonix. When you ask her about her favorite composer, “Bach” is the immediate answer. Violinists Itzhak Perlman and Joshua Bell are her favorite musicians; she loves the movie, “Fiddler on the Roof” — and quickly tells you that while having “Fiddler” in the title spoke to her, she is also a fan of the late Isaac Stern, who was the violin soloist in the movie.

Now, she is heading into months of final decision-making about where she will attend college. She has auditioned for four: Ball State in Muncie, Indiana, St. Mary’s University in Winona, Wheaton College in Chicago, and Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. She is anxious to move her studies forward, wherever it might be.

Her family is her support. As she continues with her studies and thinks about her future, she said staying close to home during college would be nice, but she’ll go — literally — where the music takes her.

Schott said he is “excited to see what she does, where she goes” after she graduates.

“There comes a time for musicians where they cease to play the notes, but start playing the music,” he mused. “Emma plays the music through and through. It just breathes.”

Beethoven & Bruch is Sunday

Emma Andersen will be the guest soloist at the Austin Symphony Orchestra’s “Beethoven & Bruch” at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 25, at the Historic Paramount Theatre, under the direction of conductor Stephen Ramsey.

Andersen will perform Bruch’s Violin Concerto. The Bruch concerto was composed in 1866 when Max Bruch was 28 years old. Andersen describes the concerto as a giant story. The first movement is conflict, dark and foreboding; the second movement is thoughtful and hopeful; and the third movement is happy, victorious.

A second number in the concert Sunday, “Fingal’s Cave, The Hebrides Overture,” was composed by Felix Mendelssohn who, at the age of 20, was on a trip to the British Isles when he saw Fingal’s Cave. He was so taken by its beauty and mystery he sent a postcard to his family on which he wrote the musical theme that was his response to the wonder of Fingal’s Cave.

The symphony’s final number on Sunday will be Beethoven’s Third Symphony. Written in 1804, the piece was supposed to be named Bonaparte, after Napoleon Bonaparte. But when Napoleon declared himself emperor, Beethoven replaced it with the new title, “Eroica.”

To purchase tickets, go to the ASO website and order online at https://www.austinmnsymphony.org, or you may purchase tickets at the ArtWorks Center in Austin.