Emma Kirkby
Soprano
“Ms. Kirkby, with her pristine voice, perfect diction, and graceful phrasing, reminded us that the primary role of vocal music is to communicate.”
— Zachary Woolfe, The New York Observer
Originally, Emma Kirkby had no expectations of becoming a professional singer. As a classics student at Oxford and then a schoolteacher she sang for pleasure in choirs and small groups, always feeling most at home in Renaissance and Baroque repertoire. She joined the Taverner Choir in 1971 and in 1973 began her long association with the Consort of Musicke. Emma took part in the early Decca Florilegium recordings with both the Consort of Musicke and the Academy of Ancient Music, at a time when most college-trained sopranos were not seeking a sound appropriate for early instruments. She therefore had to find her own approach, with enormous help from Jessica Cash in London, and from the directors, fellow singers and instrumentalists with whom she has worked over the years. Read full biography, below.
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Biography
Emma Kirkby feels lucky in many ways: that she met renaissance vocal polyphony while still at school, that she studied Classics at Somerville College and sang with the Schola Cantorum of Oxford, and, best of all, that there she encountered “historical” instruments known to Renaissance and Baroque composers- the lute, harpsichord, and wind and string instruments whose sound and human scale drew from her an instinctive response. Within a few years she found herself invited to perform professionally with pioneer groups; and long partnerships followed with British and international ensembles, individual players, and record companies, so that now Emma’s voice and style are recognized worldwide.
Alongside the obvious repertoire, - Bach, Purcell, Handel, Vivaldi, Mozart, Haydn - two vital threads through her career have been lute songs and vocal consort music, both explored over decades with various colleagues; with Jakob Lindberg Emma has given recitals and classes worldwide over nearly two decades, and as a member of Anthony Rooley’s Consort of Musicke, she took part in performances, recordings and workshops in many countries. Most recently Emma has enjoyed exploring new areas within her fach, especially with colleagues in Graz. 2017 saw “Musica Fugit” at the Utrecht Festival, an extraordinary collaboration with “Kamchatka” actors from Barcelona, and in 2018 in Köln, the director of “Fugit”, Adriaan Schwarzstein, brought his particular genius to Locke and Gibbons’s “Cupid and Death”, for which Emma was delighted to reprise, after 30 years, the role of Mother Nature!
Over the years, she has taught at “historical” chamber music courses in many countries, where she values especially coaching young singers in ideal conditions, with the “right” instrumental forces and in glorious acoustics, all vital factors working their magic in those places, just as they did for her at the outset.
It is now a joy for her to see the enthusiasm, expertise and commitment of so many younger colleagues. Emma’s favourite periods and especially beloved composers, Dowland, Danyel, Lawes, Purcell, Marenzio, Monteverdi, Strozzi, and all the rest, are now being honoured with the knowledge and skill that they deserve, by versatile singers who at one moment can deliver characterful and virtuosic solos, and at others form part of equally impassioned duets, trios or vocal consorts. Above all Emma is delighted to hear the all-important lyrics ( which Thomas Campion described as “the lively soul of music”) increasingly cherished and clearly projected. Singing has always been a vital form of storytelling, and it is wonderful to see it still in such good shape.