Caroline Smoak, violin (Fort Mill, South Carolina) is a sophomore at the New England Conservatory studying under Ayano Ninomiya. She has played the violin for almost 15 years. Caroline studied with Carolyn Huebl during her senior year at the Blair School of Music, and during the summers she has studied with Li Lin, Catherine Cho, and Itzhak Perlman. She has attended the Perlman Music Program, the Heifetz Institute and the Indiana University Summer Strings Program. During the last school year, she was awarded a Guarneri violin after winning the NEC Bales Violin Competition and was able to play on it for the school year. She has played with several orchestras including the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and the Winston Salem Symphony Orchestra, and has performed in concert halls including Carnegie Hall, Symphony Hall, and the Kennedy Center.