About
Emily Kennedy is a cellist, composer and chamber musician based in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Adept in a wide variety of genres, in a standard day she can be found traveling between Elm City String Quartet rehearsals, crafting ambient cello tracks, and writing for the award-winning chamber-pop band Pallmer.
Often seen collaborating across disciplines and art forms, her personal writing is an opportunity to synthesize her classical training with her interests in improvisation, contemporary composition, and pop music. She mulls over place, self reflection, and time in her work, using field recordings, loop and effect pedals to expand the possibilities of her instrument.
Her interest in performing and writing new music has brought her to SÍM Residency in Reykjavik Iceland, Banff’s Concert in the 21st Century residency, the Britten-Pears: Composition, Alternative Performance and Performance Art program in Aldeburgh, UK, Montreal Contemporary Music Lab, and RE:FLUX Festival in Moncton, NB. She is a graduate of the performance program at the University of Ottawa and Wilfrid Laurier University.
With Pallmer, Emily has toured Canada and has performed at notable festivals including Reeperbahn, Pop Montreal, M for Montreal, Full Circle Festival and Shivering Songs. Emily also co-curates and manages the Elm City String Quartet’s annual concert season, which includes roughly 30 concerts per year. In addition to playing, Emily regularly writes string arrangements and tracks cello for other artists and collaborators. Emily has taught cello at Mount Allison University and through the New Brunswick Sistema program, and maintains a full private teaching studio in Fredericton.
pc: Sarah Kierstead