Singer/Songwriter of “Before You Go”, released Friday, July 7th, 2023. Emma has had a passion for music really since she began walking, starting with dancing and singing along to tunes often with her mom and sister at home and in the car. It was one of their favorite things to do together. In the third grade, she qualified for Music Ideals, which was for higher-level musical talent found in students through an auditioning process.
Emma’s first instrument was a small Casio piano in her bedroom on which she learned she could play tunes by ear fairly easily without written music. In the third grade, she began piano lessons and continued taking private lessons until around sixth grade. In the eighth grade, she joined the high school marching band playing piano and through that process her skills continued to grow. It was during this time she also played the opening music for her youth pastor’s wedding and participated in her church music ministry regularly.
The summer before ninth grade someone at church asked her if she would teach their granddaughter private piano lessons. Her student list grew so quickly that she did not choose to stay in the marching band the following year and instead taught piano weekly. Prior to her freshman year of college she decided to try a regular food service job working at Starbucks and after a year she really missed teaching her students. She was then confident that teaching was where her heart was and picked back up with prior and new students. At present, she still teaches piano and voice lessons around her college schedule. She loves sharing her passion of music and tailors lessons around her students individually to keep them engaged and motivated to grow musically.
In her eleventh grade year of high school she had started penning lyrics to paper as they came to mind. Through teenage heartbreak and experiences “Before You Go” was born. There are also a few other songs that came out of her high school years that have yet to be released. A couple of other songs she has written in addition to “Before You Go” have also been performed in her college bands.
Emma is a senior at Anderson University majoring in Commercial Music. Each semester she has the opportunity to perform in a small band where each band member showcases their skills. The members change up each semester as some participants are majoring in other programs and just chose the band as an elective in a given semester. Among her performances, she also had the exciting opportunity to join a choir ensemble with one of her professors at Carnegie Hall in New York City, June of 2022.
Upon graduation Emma plans to seek a position teaching music in an elementary education setting. She would be able to do so without a state certificate if it is in a private setting, but will pursue the PACE program if she chooses public education. She chose not to pursue a music education degree because that schedule would not have allowed for the amazing growth she has been able to experience under a commercial music degree through private piano lessons, voice lessons, live performances, studio education, and so much more.
In her spare time she plans to share her music with others to hopefully inspire, connect, and speak to others as some of her favorite artists have spoken to her through the lyrics of countless songs. Some of her favorite artists are Gracie Abrams and Phoebe Bridgers, to name a couple. Depending on the day and mood, she listens to many different genres and even loves some favorite classical music pieces.