Erin Nishi, Pauli Murray College ‘25

Winner of the 2024 William Waite Concerto Competition

Erin Nishi is a junior in Pauli Murray College from Honolulu, Hawaii. She majors in Psychology on the Neuroscience track and aspires to research the effects of music on cognition. She has been playing violin since the age of three and currently studies with Professor Kyung Yu at the Yale School of Music. Erin was concertmaster/principal 2nd of Hawaii Youth Symphony and Punahou Orchestra, and was privileged to perform concerti with the Hawaii Symphony, Maui Chamber Orchestra, and Kamuela Philharmonic. In her free time, she also enjoys piano, hula, fishing, Japanese tea ceremony, and admiring sharks. During her time in the YSO so far, Erin has represented the second violin, viola, and currently, the first violin section… Perhaps she will try to learn cello/bass next?