Emma Smoker
soprano
Biography
A
native of Dallas, Texas, Emma was surrounded by music from an early age. Born to a choral director and a voice teacher, she grew up immersed in the language of Bach, Rossini, and Prokofiev. Her particular love for the music of the Baroque era was prompted further when her violin teacher encouraged her to play Bach with a period dagger bow.
Now based in Greenville, South Carolina, Miss Smoker is known for her impeccable intonation, flying coloratura, and clear vocal register. A passionate and versatile interpreter of all eras of the great classical vocal tradition, Emma’s lucid timbre is particularly suited to the music of the Baroque and Classical eras. Deeply zealous about languages and poetry in song, her artistry is driven primarily by the desire to captivate and transport the listener into a story, whether in the brevity of the art song or the sweeping drama of opera or oratorio.
Emma has appeared recently as soprano soloist in G.F. Handel’s cantata Venus and Adonis, HWV 85, and J.S. Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium, BWV 248. Other recent performances include Modest Mussorgsky’s Detskaya song cycle and Hector Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5.
Recent Repertoire
- Dietrich Buxtehude: O Fröhliche Stunden, BuxWV 84
- Leonard Bernstein, I Hate Music! song cycle
- Antonio Vivaldi, Nulla in mundo pax sincera, RV 630
- J.S. Bach, Weihnachtsoratorium, BWV 248
- Maurice Ravel, Air de Feu, L’Enfant et le Sortílèges