I have been invited to adjudicate on numerous panels recently (must be my age…) so I thought it might be helpful if I wrote a blog giving guidance to any …
Read MoreIn Praise of Music
‘Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast. To soften rocks, or bend the knotted oak’ William Congreve. Music never ceases to astonish me. With its power to sweep listeners …
Read MoreLouise Farrenc, reluctant revolutionary
I’m working towards a performance of the Clarinet Trio by nineteenth century musician, Louise Farrenc (1804-1875) https://www.emmajohnson.co.uk/concerts/ It’s a sparkling piece, well written for clarinet, piano and cello and dating …
Read MoreOne-hit Wonders
Last year I had the pleasure of meeting the Beethoven scholar, Jonathan del Mar. I was just about to give a performance of Vittorio Monti’s Czardas, so we fell to …
Read MoreTen reasons to make music
Recently I was invited by my old secondary school to come and give a talk. They’d noticed a reduction in the number of students taking part in musical events, so …
Read MoreConcerts in a Time of Covid-19
The pandemic has really brought home to me how much the work of a concert artist is about bringing people together to share a musical experience. In normal times there …
Read MoreWhy Vienna?
Mozart, Haydn, Gluck, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Strauss, Mahler, Bruckner, Schoenberg – it reads like a roll call of the great and good in classical music – but the amazing thing …
Read MoreRunning Commentary
Running commentary (A few light-hearted lessons learned training for a half marathon) When you tell people you’re going to train for a half marathon they divide into two groups: the …
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