Germany remembers her fallen service men and women on the third Sunday of November. Emma is honoured to have been invited to sing for the German remembrance in Ysselsteyn German War Cemetery in the Netherlands. The cemetery in Ysselsteyn is the largest German war cemetery in the world, covering over 70 acres. It is the final resting place of over 31,500 service men, most of whom died during the Second World War. There are also 85 soldiers from the First World War.

Sunday, 18th November, 13:30, German War Cemetery Ysselsteyn, the Netherlands

The Facebook ‘event’ can be found via this link.

Simple Harmonic Motion are a three-piece band specialising in contemporary classical music and the new age genre. They present music and animations in churches across Europe. Emma is delighted to join them as a guest vocalist for two concerts.

Friday, 16^th November, 21:00 – Hooglandse Kerk, Leiden, the Netherlands.

Saturday, 17^th November, 20:30 – Eusebiuskerk Arnhem the Netherlands.

Both concerts are free and unticketed.

One hundred years ago, at 11:00 on 11^th November 1918, the guns of the First World War fell silent. The armistice had been signed in a railway carriage in the Forest of Compiègne. To mark the centenary of the armistice, Emma will sing during the Royal British Legion’s ceremony in the Somme at the CWGC Thiepval monument to the missing, just an hour from the very spot where the armistice was signed.

She will then travel to Belgium to sing at CWGC Tyne Cot cemetery, the largest British and Commonwealth cemetery in Belgium, and at the memorial to the tank crews in Poelkapelle.

Emma will help guide six pupils from her former primary school, Nottingham Girls’ High School, who will be visiting France and Belgium to learn more about the First World War and to experience remembrance ceremonies.

11^th November, 2018

10:00 for 11:00 – Royal British Legion ceremony at Thiepval Memorial, France, with the Band of the Hampshire Constabulary.

15:30 – CWGC Tyne Cot, Belgium, with the West Yorkshire Police Band.

17:00 – Tank Memorial, Poelkapelle, Belgium, with the West Yorkshire Police Band.

On 10^th November, the eve of the centenary of the First World War armistice, the communities of Pays d’Artois in Northern France will light up all of the local war cemeteries, in a symbolic gesture bringing light to those who did not live to see the sun rise on a peaceful continent. 274 remembrance sites within the four communities of the Pays d’Artois will be lit up with candles and luminous balloons.

Emma is honoured to have been invited to sing during the opening ceremony at Faubourg d’Amiens Cemetery and the Arras Memorial. 2,688 headstones will be illuminated in this CWGC cemetery.

Saturday, 10^th November, 17:15, CWGC Faubourg d’Amiens, Arras, France

For more information, please see this link.

Emma will sing the alto solos in Mozart’s Requiem in the Marekerk, Leiden, the Netherlands, with conductor Henk Gijzen.

Mozart wrote the Requiem in Vienna in 1791: he died before he was able to complete it. The work was completed in 1792 by Franz Xaver Süssmayr.

Free entrance with a collection after the concert.

Saturday, 3^rd November, 16:00, Marekerk, Leiden, the Netherlands.

Emma has been working together with clarinetist John Macfarlane and pianist Hein Putter as a trio: Trio colla Voce. On 31^st October, they will perform during the concert series organised by the Leiden University Hospital “LUMC.” The programme consists of Louis Spohr’s (1784-1859) Sechs deutsche Lieder and a new composition by Emma: ‘The Hag,’ on a poem by Robert Herrick (1591-1674), written especially for Hallowe’en. The concert will be broadcast on hospital radio.

The concert is free and members of the public are welcome.

Wednesday, 31^stOctober, 17:00, Boerhaaveplein, LUMC, Leiden, the Netherlands

The organisation “Friends of Flanders” has arranged a charity gala at Charing Cross Theatre, London, to raise money for veterans charities including The Royal British Legion, Combat Stress, Chelsea Pensioners, and Help for Heroes. Emma will sing ‘I vow to thee my country,’ ‘Jerusalem,’ and ‘Tell My Father’ and participate in a premiere of a new work by singer-songwriters Dan and Laura Curtis.

Sunday, 28th October, 15:00 and 19:00, Charing Cross Theatre, London

Tickets are available here.

On 27th October, Emma will sing during a ceremony at the American Cemetery in Belgium, “In Flanders Fields” to mark the one hundredth anniversary of American Operations in Belgium during the First World War. There are 368 burials at “In Flanders Fields” cemetery, and a wall commemorates the 43 missing.

Emma will sing with the SHAPE (Supreme HeadquartersAllied Powers Europe) Band. Her repertoire includes Jacobson and Emerson’s setting of John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields,” arranged for Emma and the Orchestra of the Royal Belgian Air Forceby Deputy Conductor Dominique Lecomte.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, please click here.

Saturday, October 27, 15:00, ABMC In Flanders Fields, Waregem, Belgium

On 21st October, Emma will give a concert in Zwanenburg, the Netherlands, together with pianist Han-Louis Meijer. She will present a programme of music from and about the First- and Second World Wars, including poetry, war letters, and stories from her work singing for remembrance and veterans.

Sunday 21st October, 14:00, De Olm, Zwanenburg
Tickets are available via zondagmiddagpodium@meerwaarde.nl

Emma recently visited the British War Cemetery in Prémont, France, to sing during a family ceremony for Lieutenant Colonel Charles Turner van Straubenzee (1876-1918), who died in the line of duty on 9^th October, 2018, just over a month before the end of the First World War. Lt. Col. Van Straubenzee fought with the Royal Canadian Dragoons. Members of his family from Canada, the US, and Britain organised and attended a ceremony at his grave.

Who are we now? His legacy… our very selves.
Hilary Walker