A native of Abingdon, Virginia, Emily Rose completed her undergraduate studies at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, where she received degrees in clarinet performance and K–12 instrumental music education. Currently, She is currently pursuing a doctorate in clarinet performance at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where she previously completed her master’s degree. She serves as adjunct professor of woodwinds at Concordia, adjunct clarinet professor at Union College in Lincoln, and woodwind, preschool, and art instructor at Music Works Academy in Beatrice, Nebraska.
Emily has performed in southwest Virginia, North and South Carolina, Nebraska, Connecticut, and New Mexico in various solo, chamber, collaborative, and new music ensembles. She has been a featured soloist with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, a performer at both the Women Composers Festival of Hartford and the John Donald Robb Composers’ Symposium in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 2022, she placed second in the Romantic music category of the Charleston International Music Competition, performing Debussy's Première Rhapsodie. In 2023, her trio placed second in the Charleston International Music Competition's 20th Century music category for its performance of Gweneth Walker’s Emily! (from New England), and she placed third for her solo performance of Judith Shatin's Penelope's Song for amplified clarinet and electronics.
Over the years, Emily has been invited to give masterclasses at Appalachian State University’s Cannon Music Camp in free improvisation as well as lectures and performances at Southwest Virginia Community College, Penn State University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Most recently, she recorded the clarinet part for Backyard Farmer's newest theme, arranged by composer Josh Aguiar.
Emily’s teaching style stems from her love of instrumental pedagogy, merging traditional clarinet techniques and study with musicians’ wellness, highlighted through the Alexander Technique experience. These approaches aim to bring consciousness and mindfulness to a student’s everyday practice and performance study, thereby aiding in difficulties that arise with both performance anxiety and instrumental practice injury.
As a performer, Emily advocates and performs new musical compositions to bolster collaborations with composers and other media creators. Her most recent escapades have included designing and creating visual media for various compositions and composers, which she has also performed. Some of these recordings can be found in the performance category on her website. Also found there are graphic designs she has created for individual commissions, the International Clarinet Association, and the University of Nebraska’s clarinet studio.
A member of both the International Clarinet Association (ICA) and the National Association for Music Education, Emily is chair of the Membership and Development Committee of the ICA. Her work with this organization has provided her with experience formulating proposals for funding projects, developing membership databases, and organizing competitions for various age groups.
In her spare time, Emily works in the Lincoln area for the organization Arts Incorporated, where she coordinates volunteers for various organizations and manages the Capital Jazz Society. She enjoys spending time drawing, backpacking, and when not noodling she can be found playing various video games alongside her boyfriend, composer Josh Aguiar.