“Emma could sit in the middle of a tornado, and her focus would still be on creating music that has meaning. She has a formidable technique, but her musicianship goes well beyond this.”
- Shirley Apthorp, Director of Umculo Opera Incubator
A PIANIST committed to using music to bridge cultural & social divides.
Emma Luyendijk is a Cape Town, South African-born collaborative pianist, based in New York City.
She is Associate Music Director at The American Opera Project – the country’s leading innovator in contemporary opera – and serves as a staff pianist at The Juilliard School.
Emma enjoys working in a multitude of collaborative settings – from traditional art song, to interdisciplinary projects, to contemporary opera – and has collaborated with numerous cultural institutions both in New York City and abroad, including The New York City Ballet, The Berlin Umculo Opera Incubator, City Lyric Opera, Opera on Tap, and more. This love of musical collaboration with her work behind the piano, has led her to work with some of the world’s greatest musicians in the field: from Elly Ameling and Helmet Deutsch, to Barbara Hannigan and Yo-Yo Ma.
In 2017 she served as Community Engagement Coordinator of The Boston Art Song Society, and has participated in the prestigious Franz Schubert Institut in Vienna.
Emma's commitment to community engagement through music has led her to work alongside the international music organization El Sistema in Japan, and in 2016 she was certified by Musicians Without Borders through the School for International Training’s Graduate Institute’s Peacebuilding Program.
CElebrating south africa’s abdullah ibrahim with yo-yo ma
African Song is a piece by South African jazz pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim. After a period of exile in New York during the Apartheid era, Ibrahim returned to South Africa where he fought for the rights of those marginalized by systemic racism, such as himself. Ibrahim's music is an aural history tracing the pain, joy, sadness, and anger felt by a nation under legalized segregation, the birth of democracy following Nelson Mandela's release in 1994, and the struggles South Africans of color still face to this day. The lives and careers of Yo-Yo Ma and Abdullah Ibrahim bear witness to the power of music in shaping society, building bridges, and lifting the human spirit out of darkness and despair.
2022 season
January 26
The Juilliard School
New York, NY
Focus Festival with Sydney Dardis (Soprano)
March 14-25
The Juilliard School
New York, NY
John Cage Sessions with Barbara Hannigan
April 7
Paul Hall, The Juilliard School
New York, NY
Collaborative Piano Graduate Recital
April 20th
The Juilliard School
New York, NY
Opera Lab Premiere: Culture Shock
April 24
Amherst Glebe Arts Alliance
Amherst, VA
In Concert with Mezzo-Soprano Sophie Delphis
April 27th, 6pm
The Juilliard School
New York, NY
Liederabend: American Song
April 28th, 8:30pm
The Juilliard Schoo
New York, NY
Voice Recital of Jaye Simmons (Soprano)
May 7th
Norway House
Minneapolis, MN
Edvard Grieg Song Competition: Final Round
October 19th
Newark, NJ
When Waves Collide Music and Dance Festival