Assembly House Classical presents
Hannah Watson Emmrich – piano
Notes from the Undergrowth
A day and night in a forest ecosystem, told through a thematic programme of piano miniatures. With music foraged from the French baroque through to the present day, the programme follows a path through familiar territory and more overgrown corners of the piano repertoire: the brief, evocative nature of the pieces makes them a perfect introduction to composers who are well worth discovering. The concert will include new commissions by Timothy Salter, Joshua Borin and Maki Gajic Murata, tackling some less musically explored species including slime mould ('Grex'), fireflies and mushrooms!
Programme
Leoš Janáček – On an overgrown path book 2 no. 1
Jean-Philippe Rameau – Le rappel des oiseaux / The call of the birds
Fannie Charles Dillon – Birds at Dawn
Marion Bauer – White Birches
Dora Pejáčević – Blütenwirbel / A whirl of blossoms
Sergei Rachmaninov – Lilacs
Béla Bartók – From the diary of a fly
Joshua Borin – Grex
Robert Schumann – Vogel als Prophet / The bird as prophet
François Couperin – Les ombres errantes / Wandering shadows
Maki Gajic Murata – Fireflies
Emahoy Tsegue Mariam Guebrou – Evening Breeze
Maurice Ravel – Noctuelles / Night moths
Timothy Salter – Midnight Mushrooms
François Couperin – Le rossignol en amour / The nightingale in love
Margrit Schenker – Palme mit Schnee / Palm with snow
Dora Pejáčević – Nocturne
Hannah’s performances have included solo, chamber and song recitals at the Barbican, St Martin-in-the-Fields, LSO St Luke’s, Cardiff’s St David’s Hall and the Royal Festival Hall, as well as performances on Radio 3’s In Tune and Afternoon on 3, and in The Lady in the Van.
Hannah studied Modern Languages at Cambridge with an Erasmus year at the ENS de Lyon. After graduating, she moved to London for a solo piano Masters and Artist Diploma at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, taught by Martin Roscoe and Caroline Palmer. Her studies were generously funded by Help Musicians and the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the Worshipful Company of Tallow Chandlers, the Kenneth Loveland Gift and others.
From 2017-2021, Hannah worked as Music Director at the Anglican Cathedral in Nairobi, leading a team of around 200 musicians over 8 adult and children’s choirs, as well as a major organ restoration project. She also taught and mentored several talented teenagers, two of whom are now studying at US conservatoires. She maintains an ongoing link with music in Kenya and returned in March 2025 to perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 4 in G major with the Nairobi Orchestra and for recitals and masterclasses with Luba Tunnicliffe.
In the past year, Hannah has recorded a debut solo album, Notes from the Undergrowth, with label Deux-Elles, for release in June 2026. The album is an ‘ecosystem’ of miniatures from the French baroque to the present day, exploring a day and night in the life of a forest and including three new commissions. She also played for the premiere at Sinfonia Smith Square and first recording of Edward Picton-Turbervill’s Out of Eden, for release on Orchard Classics later in June.
Alongside her performing work, she is currently music director for Norwich-based chamber choir Sine Nomine and St Anselm’s Church Kennington, leading a vibrant mixed-tradition department including adult and children’s choirs, choral scholars and a steel pan band.