Emma Burgess

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The Orchestra

Emma Burgess

Principal Second Clarinet
Adopted by Mr WJ & Mrs CJ Bowley

Emma was born and raised in Bromley and took up the clarinet when she was 10 years old. She spent the next 8 years playing in the Concert Bands and Orchestras at the Bromley Youth Music Trust. She went on to study with Tim Lines, Barnaby Robson and Richard Hosford at the Royal College of Music graduating with a first-class Bachelor of Music degree and a Master of Performance with distinction. During her time there she was selected as an RCM Rising Star in 2013.

Prior to joining the RLPO in September 2023, Emma had a busy freelance career performing with many orchestras across the UK as well as deputizing on West End shows. She performed regularly with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Aurora Orchestra, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, English National Opera and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, amongst others. She has played guest principal clarinet with the Royal Opera House, RPO, RLPO, Scottish Opera and ENO. She has also played with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Philharmonia.

Emma also enjoys playing chamber music and has performed at several prestigious music festivals including Cerne Abbas Music Festival, Cambridge Music Festival, North York Moors Chamber Festival, Edinburgh International and Fringe Festivals and St Magnus Festival in Orkney. Emma has also performed the music of Steve Reich extensively with the Colin Currie Group at venues including Tokyo Opera City, Carnegie Hall, The Concertgebouw, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and Philharmonie de Paris.

Fun Fact:

Outside of work Emma enjoys spending time outdoors and loves to go cycling, hiking, travelling and to music festivals. A recent highlight was spending 8 days hiking in the Torres del Paine national park in Patagonia.