Emma’s Articles

Recently at a pre-concert talk a young clarinettist asked me how she could begin to express more emotion in her playing. This set me thinking and in fact the best …

Every now and then, to refresh my soul and rejuvenate my being, I listen again to Glenn Gould playing Bach’s Goldberg Variations. It is the recording I return to more …

For years scientists have been predicting that computers will eventually take over all the work in the world. Visions have been painted of humans in the future putting their feet …

Towards the end of his life, a sure way to make Beethoven angry was to tell him how much you admired his Septet Op.20, according to the English composer, Schultz, …

15 minutes jogging:           120 calories 15 minutes walking:         50 calories 15 minutes swimming:     105 calories 15 minutes vacuuming:    53 calories 15 minutes climbing stairs: 120 calories 15 …

When Albert Einstein died, scientists looked inside his brain expecting to find abnormal numbers of neurons but were perplexed to find instead that it contained a greater than normal amount …

Until recently birds were underestimated, even by biologists – “bird-brained” was by no means a complimentary term – but opinion is gradually changing as publications such as The Genius of …

Question: “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” Answer: “Practise”. But this only tells half the story. Sometimes the most nerve-racking part of giving concerts is actually getting to the …

In the week when her album of classical and jazz favourites, Clarinet Goes to Town, is released, Emma explores the roots of trad jazz in New Orleans.

  Sometimes in musical performance everything flows effortlessly and you have a feeling of being at one with the music and the audience. You are in commune with the listeners …