Emma works with musicians using a combination of physiotherapy, yoga and performance preparation approaches to support long-term health. Her work includes injury prevention, risk factor education, pacing, strength development and performance anxiety management strategies. Emma teaches at the Royal Academy of Music (London) for the postgraduate Enhanced Performance Techniques module and has given performance health workshops at Trinity Laban (London) and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London).
Emma’s interest in musicians’ physiotherapy was shaped by her own experience as a professional flautist requiring specialist performance health respiratory physiotherapy following Covid-19, and by her experience of long-term management of a rare metabolic bone condition (polyostotic fibrous dysplasia).
She completed her MSc Physiotherapy (pre-registration) graduating with distinction from Buckinghamshire New University and holds a first-class BMus (hons) from the Royal College of Music (London). During her physiotherapy training, she completed her MSc student placements within the NHS with the Hertfordshire NHS Trust (Learning Disabilities), the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (Orthopaedics), Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust (MSK Outpatients), and Care of the Older Age Adult (ExtraCare Charity).
Emma brings over 25 years of experience as a high-level orchestral musician, working extensively in Creative Arts outreach and participation projects across special schools, care homes and health-based projects. This background has informed her interest in interdisciplinary, person-centred physiotherapy.
As a musician, a recent project with composer Zakiya Leeming (Royal Northern College of Music) and gastroenterology researcher Professor Paul Klenerman (University of Oxford) brought together patients living with inflammatory bowel disease and musicians, exploring the concept of tolerance in long-term health conditions. This work highlighted the importance of listening to patients lived experiences, particularly the impact of fatigue on participation and the occupational demands faced by patients living with IBD.
As a physiotherapist Emma leads a hydrotherapy class for the National Axial Spondyloarthritis Charity, supporting well-being, activity, social participation, strength and mobility.
Her research interests developed through shadowing the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital’s inpatient chronic pain programme prior to her MSc, alongside her experience of working with musicians. She presents her research ‘Does Pain Always Relate to Function? A Look Beyond Biomechanical Explanations of Musicians Playing Related Pain’ at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists Student National Conference 2026.