Emily Mason has been a musician in the DC area for fourteen years as a composer, classical pianist, harpist, and organist. Emily started out as an instrumentalist, and has been playing harp, piano, and organ professionally for nineteen years. She discovered a love for composing in 2017, and since then she has been tirelessly writing for individual artists and concerts, as well as for two choirs and two youth orchestras which she directed from December 2014 through July 2020.
Emily's compositions have enchanted audiences across the United States and internationally, and she has received many prizes and placements in composition competitions, including the first place prize in the Notre Dame University Magnificat Choir’s Composition Contest in 2021, Special Commendation by the King's Singers in 2019, and first place in the Cantate Chamber Singers' Thirteenth Biennial Young Composer's Competition in 2022.
Her first commission was performed in December 2019 by Marco Panuccio and the Cincinnati Conservatory Strings in Panuccio's Emmy® Nominated "O Holy Night" national concert tour. In 2022, Emily collaborated with Billy Smith and the Mark Morris Dance Group Student Company and wrote an original suite for harp trio, which was premiered with original choreography by Smith in the company’s June 2022 performance. In May 2023, The Philippine Madrigal Singers premiered and included on the
latter half of their tour the mixed choir version of her composition, "Meditabor". The original women’s choir version of "Meditabor" has been sung by several women’s choirs across the US, and will be sung by Jessa Chorus of Hobart, Tasmania in May of 2024. Her original music has been performed by the Congressional Chorus of Washington, DC, and the piece will be featured as an installment of an audio tour in the Congressional Gardens in 2024. She is currently finishing a commission from Melodia Women’s Choir of NYC, and she has received a third commission from Notre Dame University’s Women’s Choir for the fall of 2024.
The teachers Emily has studied with include Beverly Henkel for Classical piano, Joy Schreier for collaborative piano, harp with Elizabeth Blakeslee, and jazz piano/composition under Mark Christopher Brandt. She currently serves fourteen DC area churches, playing for weekly services on piano, organ, and harp, as well as teaching music theory and sight-reading with the GRAMMY® Award-winning National Children's Chorus. She has become proficient with video and audio editing using Adobe Audition and Premiere Pro, and is currently learning to use Cubase and Logic Pro software to compose completed scores and mock-ups for her film, orchestral, and choral music. She completed her first film score in collaboration with Mirandum Pictures in the fall of 2023, and is looking forward to delving further into the world of film composing. THIS IS NOT AS ACCURATE AS THE LONG BIO ANYMORE
EMMANUEL SHORT BIO:
Emily Mason is a composer, classical pianist, harpist, and organist with nearly 20 years of performance experience. She has been writing music for eight years, and her compositions have been heard and sung across the United States and internationally. Emily has received many commissions, prizes, placements, and recognitions in composition competitions across the US and internationally, including prizes and commissions from Notre Dame University Women's Choir, the King's Singers, Marco Panuccio’s Emmy® Nominated concert series, the Mark Morris Dance Group Student Company, Jessa Chorus of Hobart, Tasmania, the Philippine Madrigal Singers, Voce Chamber Singers of Vienna, VA, and the Congressional Chorus of Washington, DC.
Emily is dedicated to improving communications between people of different faiths and cultures, and teaches music with the Educando con Amor program at St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church in Leesburg. She was responsible for organizing 12 churches to participate in an interfaith benefit concert to support the Peers and Students Taking Action (PASTA) non-profit in the summer of 2024, and hopes to make these interfaith concerts an annual event.
Currently the Director of Music at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Middleburg, VA, Emily also serves eight other DC area churches, playing for weekly services on piano, organ, and harp. She also teaches music theory and sight-reading with the GRAMMY® Award-winning National Children's Chorus. She is currently learning to use Logic Pro and Native Instruments software to compose completed scores and mock-ups for her film, orchestral, and choral music. She completed her first film score in collaboration with Mirandum Pictures in the fall of 2023, and is excited to continue delving further into the world of composing in Logic Pro. Emily chose not to attend music school, but instead has worked with many teachers over the years to hone her skills on the piano, harp, organ, music theory, and as a composer. Her teachers include Beverly Henkel for classical piano, Joy Schreier for collaborative piano, harp under Elizabeth Blakeslee, and jazz piano/composition under Mark Christopher Brandt.