On 8th December, across the globe, candles will be lit in vigils to remember children, infants, babies, and unborn babies who died too young, and to show solidarity with those who grieve.
Emma will sing during an intimate, inclusive ceremony in her home town, led by Leta Janssen.
Sunday, 8th December, 18:30 (doors open 18:15), Leiden City Hall’s “Burgerzaal,” Leiden, the Netherlands
Free entry: please contact wereldlichtjesdagleiden@gmail.com
Emma’s composition “Sweet was the Song the Virgin Sung” is now available through Edition HH:
http://www.editionhh.co.uk/shop/item.aspx?itemid=780
This simple and captivating four-part (SATB) setting should be suitable for choirs of most levels.
“Emma Brown’s setting of ‘Sweet was the Song’, simple yet utterly compelling, captures the Renaissance character of the text while imparting a fresh, modern twist. Suitable for choirs both professional and amateur, it would make a beautiful addition to a Christmas concert or carol service, as well as providing a touching moment of spiritual reflection during Midnight Mass.”
-Per Hartmann
Text: William Ballet‘s Lute Book in Library of Trinity College, Dublin, c.1600
With thanks to the Leidse Cantorij, Leiden, the Netherlands and their director of music Hans Brons for this beautiful recording.
In concert with the West Yorkshire Police Band and Bill Henderson in 2018: performing Rule Britannia.
Emma is delighted to be joining the West Yorkshire Police Band under conductor Alan Jazwinski and the Castleford Male Voice Choir for a concert in Pontefract, England, for a festive concert on the first weekend of advent. Emma has sung with the West Yorkshire Police Band several times, both in the UK and in Belgium, for example during remembrance weekend at ceremonies in Messines, Tyne Cot, and the Menin Gate. She is delighted to be joining them again for a charity concert in aid of the Prince of Wales Hospice.
Saturday, 30th November, 19:00, St Giles’ Church, Pontefract, England
For tickets, please email hospicedarts@yahoo.co.uk
Emma’s CD “Echoes of War” is available!
Pianist Han Louis Meijer and Emma recorded music from and about the First and Second World Wars. With a mixture of familiar and new songs, popular and classical styles, there is something for everyone.
The CD includes love songs such as ‘Roses of Picardy,’ ‘Als op het Leidscheplein’ – a Dutch song full of longing for the lights in Amsterdam to shine once more, and of course songs made famous by Vera Lynn. There are rousing patriotic songs including ‘I vow to thee my country’ and ‘Jerusalem,’ and the uplifting ‘Dam-busters March’ as a flamboyant piano solo. We also recorded classical songs by Poulenc and Butterworth, and three songs by the children’s author Ilse Weber. Weber worked as a volunteer nurse in the children’s infirmary when she was imprisoned in Theresienstadt. When the children in her care were transported to Auschwitz she volunteered to go with them. On arrival, she and the children were sent to the gas chamber.
The CD is available through Floating World Records at this link.
On 23rd November, Emma will be a guest soloist in Bach’s Cantata 182 and Mozart’s Requiem in the MCO, Hilversum, the Netherlands. She will join soloists soprano Henriette Feith, tenor Arco Mandemake, and bass Donald Bentvelsen, under conductor Nico Philipp Hovius with the Toonkunstkoor, Hilversum, and the Barokorkest Cappella Maria Barbara.
Saturday, 23rd November, 20:00, Muziekcentrum van de Omroep, Hilversum, the Netherlands
For tickets, please follow this link.
“An unknown German Soldier.”
Each year, on the second Sunday before Advent, Germany commemorates members of the armed forces of all nations and civilians who died in armed conflicts and oppression. Emma is deeply honored and moved to have been invited to sing for the “Volkstrauertag” ceremony at Ysselsteyn cemetery in the Netherlands, where over 31,000 soldiers are buried. She is there on the invitation of the British Veteran John Sleep, who fought and was wounded nearby. John believes strongly in ‘Peace Between All Nations’ and has attended the ceremony in Ysselsteyn for several years.
Sunday, 17th November 13:30, Ysselsteyn German War Cemetery, the Netherlands
Emma will sing for the thirtieth anniversary of the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation at a charity gala in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.
Christina Noble survived a turbulent childhood in extreme poverty in Dublin. A street child herself, she suffered unimaginable abuse. Then, in 1989, she visited Vietnam following a dream she had about children reaching out to her. She had very little money, and spent her time meeting street children and their families and trying to help. Now, thirty years later, she has helped change the lives of over a million impoverished children and their families.
Please see above for a short film about Christina’s work.
Saturday, 9th November, Intercontinental Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Emma is grateful to the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture for granting her a special licence to sing in Vietnam.
Emma will join organist Willeke Smits for a concert in the Edesche Concertzaal, Ede, the Netherlands. The programme includes music from Britain, Norway, and the U.S. with songs by Elgar, Grieg, Copeland, and Gershwin. Willeke will perform Vaughan-Williams’ ‘Rhosymedre’ and her own arrangement of Grieg’s ‘Holberg suite.’
Friday, 1st November, 20:00, Edesche Concertzaal, Ede, the Netherlands
For tickets, please follow this link.
In order to celebrate seventy-five years since the liberation of Brabant, the city of Bergen op Zoom is hosting an international military tattoo. Emma with join the Band of Liberation and conductor Simon Dubbelaar for a spectacular evening of military music.
For more information (in Dutch), please follow this link.
Saturday, 26th October, 19:00, Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands
Clarinetist John Macfarlane, pianist Hein Putter and Emma will present aprogramme of music for voice, clarinet and piano. This includes opera arias by Mozart and Massenet with solos for basset horn and alto clarinet (played on basset horn), lieder by Proch, and a composition by John Macfarlane for voice and bass clarinet. The concert ends with Emma’s composition for the trio, “The Hag,” which can be seen in the video below.
23rd October, 2019, 17:00, Boerhaveplein, LUMC, Leiden, the Netherlands. Free entry.