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.
