Emma grew up in Brasher Falls, NY where she began playing piano in kindergarten, and percussion in fifth grade. Being in close proximity to the Crane School of Music at SUNY Postdam, she began taking private lessons throughout high school with Jim Petercsak and attended Crane Youth Music every summer, focusing on mallets and orchestral percussion. Emma moved to Boston in 1995 to attend Berklee College of Music where she studied with Dean Anderson, Nancy Zeltsman, Victor Mendoza, and Richard Flanagan.
Over the years Emma has played with many Boston-area groups including the New England Philharmonic, Arlington Philharmonic, MIT Gilbert and Sullivan Players, Concord Symphony, Firebird Symphony, and assisted with pit orchestra performances and Saturday Morning Music School at Belmont Public Schools. She also taught private piano and marimba lessons for many years in her spare time. She and her husband have three kids and live in Belmont, MA where she is the Chief Operating Officer for Cal Verde Naturals. Besides performing with Bay Colony Brass and New England Philharmonic, Emma is an avid knitter and enjoys practicing ashtanga yoga and traveling.