Emma Welton

Emma Welton studied music at Manchester and York Universities, specialising in performance and composition.  She plays acoustic and electric violins, and occasionally double bass.  In addition to Icebreaker, she is a member of Black Hair, and [rout] ensembles specialising in the performance of new composed and devised music. 

She has given solo violin performances at Exeter Cathedral, Peninsular Arts’ Contemporary Music Festival at Plymouth, and at the Plymouth and Exeter launches of the Nonclassical club night.  She thrives on collaborating with composers and other musicians to develop new work in music and sound.  As a counterbalance to this she runs community choirs, teaches violin and tutors ensembles.  She composes music when necessary.  She has an eclectic musical background, having spent some years playing in folk bands, an Indian music band and a jazz quartet.’

Fascinated by the little-known canon of 'quiet music', Emma and Tony Whitehead developed A Quiet Night In, - a programme of concerts that has brought the work of experimental composers such as James Saunders and Catherine Lamb to unorthodox spaces across Exeter, with the venues chosen specifically to contribute their own 'sounds' to the experience.

Emma’s composing is often driven by her desire to offer a response to global climate concerns. She has recorded many types of electricity generation and combined these sounds with those of live instruments and tools in concert pieces. She also uses data from climate change research in her compositional structures.

Emma will be performing as part of Street Music on Friday 7th June on Paignton Esplanade.