Born in the UK in 1982, Emma made her London debut aged 10 in the Purcell Room and at 14 she performed Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in the Queen Elizabeth Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, broadcast live on Classic FM. She has since performed with the West Lakes Orchestra, Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, the Northern Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Sinfonia, Lonsdale Chamber Ensemble, Dales Chamber Orchestra, St. Cecilia Orchestra, Grimsby Symphony Orchestra, Wrexham Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bridgewater Band, the Westmorland Orchestra and Young Sinfonia, and has performed in France, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Brunei, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Russia, Israel, and the USA as a soloist.
In 1999 she won the Keldwyth Award, presented to Cumbria’s best young musician and in 2002 she was a National String Finalist in the BBC Young Musicians Competition, broadcast on UK TV and radio. In October 2002 she participated in the 3rd International Yampolsky Violin Competition in Russia, where she was awarded the highest marks for her performance of Mozart then went on to perform with the Moscoviya Chamber Orchestra in the Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, Moscow. With the Panormo Quartet she won the Helen Just and Susan Connell prize for string chamber music, and participated in a public masterclass with the Belcea Quartet at the Wigmore Hall. An experienced recitalist, she has performed all over the UK, and has a strong interest in contemporary works, having had several specially written for her. She features on the CD ‘Defiant Dames’ in aid of breast cancer. With the Celtic band Tarras she recorded ‘Rising’ which achieved No. 1 in the Folk charts and was voted Mojo’s Folk Album of the Month, and toured Germany, Holland and the USA. She also sings professionally (her debut CD ‘The Girl Stands’ is an eclectic mix of violin, fiddle, and vocal music), and is a published and recorded composer.
Emma graduated with a BMus(Hons) First Class from the Royal College of Music where she was a Foundation Scholar and Concertmaster of every major ensemble, working with leading artists including Bernard Haitink and Andrew Litton. She studied violin with Ani Schnarch and singing with Margaret Cable and was generously supported by the Emerton-Christie Trust. Emma has also received awards from the Martin Musical Scholarship Fund, the Edmund Castle Trust, the Musicians Benevolent Fund and the Countess of Munster Musical Trust.
She is a graduate of the Keshet Eilon Violin Mastercourse in Israel and the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival in Maine, USA, and was awarded a Jerwood Scholarship to study at the International Musicians Seminar in Prussia Cove, where she was invited back to play amongst internationally renowned musicians in the Open Chamber Music course. She won the Ernest Cooke Scholarship to attend the Lake District Summer Music Festival, and has been a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the National Repertory Orchestra in the USA.
Emma is continuing her studies in America at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, with the Concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Andrés Cardenés. She is Concertmaster of the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic and Chamber Orchestra, and is a member of The Starling Quartet, supported by the Starling Foundation. She won the 2004 Concerto Competition, and the faculty nominated Violin Scholarship. She also won the inaugural Gindroz Travel/Study prize, for independent travel and research in music and architecture in Europe.
Since arriving in Pittsburgh Emma has worked as Concertmaster of both Pittsburgh Opera Theater and Pittsburgh Opera/Ballet, and she plays regularly with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Her other interests include yoga, German cultural and language studies, travel and cooking.