Percussion Bio

Emily has been playing and performing percussion for close to thirty years. A native of Ann Arbor, MI, she played with the Southern Great Lakes Symphony, DSO Youth Civic Orchestra, Interlochen All-State Band and Orchestra and the Flint Symphony while in high school. While pursuing a music performance degree at the University of Michigan (2002-2006), she played with the UofM Symphony Band and Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble and a jazz ensemble.

Emily received a BMA in percussion performance in 2006, studying under the auspices of Michael Udow, Michael Gould, Don Peterson and Brian Jones. She moved to San Francisco soon after graduating and led the percussion program at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in San Francisco for four years while pursuing an MA in Digital Media and Learning from the University of San Francisco. She has worked in educational technology since 2008, specializing in K-12. Her music and audio engineering background has inspired many student sound projects in her elective classes over the years.

Current Work:

Outside of full-time work, Emily currently splits her time as Principal Percussionist of the Peninsula Symphony Orchestra, producer/co-host of Struggle for Change Podcast, and percussion faculty at Cha Cha Percussion in Santa Clara, CA. She has performed with the Peninsula Symphony Orchestra percussion section since 2016.

View the current season schedule for the Peninsula Symphony.