home
    biography    recording    reviews    Evva&Emma Duo    educational work    listen     links     contact





A professor at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, the Neapolitan pianist Emma Abbate pursues a varied career as an accompanist, Italian language coach, and teacher. She also acts as an official accompanist at Trinity College of Music, and works for organizations including Opera North.

Emma has performed with both instrumentalists and singers in numerous prestigious UK venues such as the Wigmore Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, St James’s Piccadilly, St George’s Bristol, Aldeburgh Festival (for the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme), Southwark Cathedral, Blackheath Halls, the Italian Institute of Culture in London, and the Pump Room in Bath. Internationally, she has performed at the Salzburger Schlosskonzerte, Aldo Ciccolini Music Society in Naples, Koscierzyna Chamber Music Festival in Poland, Anghiari International Festival with Southbank Sinfonia, the International Festival Santanellese in Sorrento, the Italian Institute of Culture in Lisbon, and for The William Walton Society in Ischia. She also works as an official accompanist for various competitions, including the Hampshire Singer of the Year competition, and the Bromsgrove International Young Musicians Platform.

Emma also enjoys playing on historical instruments, and has recently performed on some original pianos and fortepianos at the renowned Finchcocks Museum in Kent.

Following her graduation from the S. Pietro a Majella Conservatoire in Naples at the age of only 19, and an Advanced Diploma from the S. Cecilia Conservatoire in Rome, Emma then studied in London with Yonty Solomon at the Trinity College of Music, from where she gained First Class Honours. She completed her studies with Geoffrey Pratley and Patsy Toh as a scholar at the Royal Academy of Music, from where she was awarded the Postgraduate Diploma in Accompaniment with Distinction. Her many prizes have included the Anglo-Czechoslovak Trust Award, the international Ibla Grand Prize as Distinguished Musician, the Jeejeebhoy prize for piano studies, the Grover Bennett Prize, and the AMA Calabria Award. Emma has also performed in masterclasses for distinguished musicians including Marcello Abbado, Roger Vignoles, Sherrill Milnes, and Rudolf Jansen. She was awarded an Italian Literature and Culture degree cum laude from the Federico II University in Naples, and is launching a series of recordings that explores the neglected Italian vocal chamber music of the 20th century.





Copyright © 2007 Emma Abbate. All rights reserved