Emma West grew up learning and performing music in Western Australia. She was raised in a singing family, with a mother and father who sang in amateur musical theatre and in church, and she started learning the piano in Year 2 and the ‘cello in Year 4 at school. With supportive and enthusiastic teachers, Emma joined the WA Youth Orchestra in Year 5, and was successful in joining the Junior Exhibitioner Programme at the Conservatorium the same year. In these two programmes Emma had training in orchestral performance, music theory, solo performance and singing, which carried her through school, and prepared her for her tertiary studies at the WA Conservatorium of Music and at the University of Western Australia.

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Emma has a B Mus (Hons) from the University of WA, and a rich and varied experience of musical performance in many styles and in many contexts, including classical orchestras, choirs, rock bands, jazz groups, and church music teams. She has worked for many years as an instrumental tutor, band and ensemble conductor, and now choral conductor, as well as a freelance cellist, vocalist and session musician for recording groups. Currently, Emma works as a conductor with Young Voices of Macedon, as a private instrumental teacher, and in a family business. She has three children.