Emma Williams is a freelance flute and piccolo player. She trained at the Royal College of Music, graduating with a first-class BMus (Hons) degree. Her teachers included David Butt, Susan Milan and Christopher Hyde-Smith, and Alain Marion in Paris. After graduating she continued her studies with Michael Cox and Patrica Morris. ​With support from the Royal College of Music, Emma continued her development with the RCM’s Junior Fellowship Programme. Emma joined the inaugural year of the Southbank Sinfonia, now Sinfonia Smith Square, as sub-principal flute. During this time, she was a Young Concert Artists Trust Finalist as a solo flautist and made her Wigmore Hall debut. She was also a Kirkman Concert Society winner, giving a solo showcase recital at the Purcell Room.

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As an orchestral principal piccolo and second flute player, Emma has worked for many years with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Other freelance work includes the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Britten Sinfonia, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Northern Ballet, English National Ballet and Welsh National Opera. Her trial work has included principal piccolo positions with the RTE National Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Royal Northern Sinfonia, and second flute with BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

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In 2019 Emma joined the contemporary experimental chamber group Apartment House for a performance of Julius Eastman’s semi-improvised work Feminine at the London Contemporary Music Festival, broadcast live on Radio 3. She has continued to work with the ensemble, who are Associate Artists at the Wigmore Hall, in graphic scored, improvised and semi-improvised programmes at venues and festivals including the Wigmore Hall, LSO St Luke’s, Ultima Festival (Oslo), Sacrum Profanum Festival (Poland), Edition Festival (Stockholm), Intonal Festival (Denmark) and at the underground contemporary venue Mayhem (Copenhagen). Emma has also appeared on several Apartment House recordings for Another Timbre featuring music by Martin Iddon, Kory Reeder, Julius Eastman, Paul Paccione, Maya Verlaak and Giuliano d’Angliolini.

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In Apartment House’s Wigmore Hall performance of Peter Maxwell Davies’ Seven Skies of Winter Op. 238 Musical America reviewed that ‘Each and every member of the ensemble was outstanding, but mention should be specially made of Emma Williams’ wrangling of a treacherous piccolo line’. In the Telegraph for LCMF “The spell-binding intensity of the performers made for something both enthralling and moving… the whole thing breathed a sweetly innocent air, punctuated by moments of ecstatic energy” 

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Emma has grounded her performance career in outreach and community participation. She began this work after graduating, through the Live Music Now scheme and later performed in hospices and care homes with the Music in Hospitals Charity. Throughout her career, she has worked with the Creative Learning & Participation departments for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia, Aurora Orchestra, Wigmore Hall and London Sinfonietta. These projects have supported carers and people living with dementia, children with special educational needs, NHS partnerships and local communities. This work was foundational in building Emma’s experience of creative improvisation. This has taken her into the realm of Creative Arts Health in a project with composer Zakiya Leeming (RNCM), gastroenterology researcher Professor Paul Klenerman (University of Oxford), patients living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and musicians, exploring the concept of tolerance in long-term health conditions and treatment.

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Emma is a certified yoga teacher, HCPC registered physiotherapist and teaches performance health and wellbeing for the Royal Academy of Music’s Enhanced Performance Techniques course.