Emma Di Marco

A Churchill Fellowship recipient & Australian D’Addario Woodwinds Artist, Dr Emma Di Marco is a contemporary saxophonist, composer, and music educator. She maintains a portfolio career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, artistic director, business owner, and researcher. As a champion of Australian music, Emma has toured on multiple occasions with programs of specially commissioned Australian works. Emma is a casual academic in saxophone at the University of Queensland; operates her own business, Emma Di Marco Music, publishing quality woodwind sheet music as well as providing consulting services; and is also Head of Woodwind at a prestigious Brisbane school. Emma is a founding member of the Barega Saxophone Quartet and has performed across Australia and Europe with the group as well as releasing two albums of commissioned Australian repertoire. Emma is a saxophonist with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and has appeared as a soloist with the Queensland Wind Orchestra and the Mueller International Chamber Orchestra. She holds a PhD in Musicology, a Masters of Teaching (Secondary), and is regularly featured in industry events and festivals including four World Saxophone Congresses. She can be heard on her EP, her two albums with Barega Sax, her podcasts Sax Bites and UNMUSICAL, or one of her many popular social media channels.

As a composer, Emma has primarily focussed on the development of educational resources for woodwind students. Her particular focus has been improving the instruction and development of saxophone technique. This has resulted in a significant collection of worksheets, activities, and practice resources for students and teachers all over the world. In 2018, Emma began her journey into composing repertoire for solo saxophone in order to further her artistic practice as a soloist. Since then, Emma has composed a number of pieces for solo saxophone and track which centres storytelling at the heart of her creative works.
As a champion of Australian music, Emma has toured Australia on multiple occasions with programs that consisted of specially commissioned Australian works. These performances featured collaborations with Australian artists including Nexas Quartet and the Hourglass Ensemble. Emma has performed in recital in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, and Hobart and has performed internationally in the USA, the UK, France, South Korea, Spain, Ukraine, and Croatia. She is a regular on the industry conference scene with performances at four World Saxophone Congresses (Gran Canaria 2023, Zagreb 2018, Strasbourg 2015, St Andrews 2012), the Australasian Saxophone and Clarinet Conference (Sydney 2013), and the Australian Clarinet and Saxophone Festival (Melbourne 2011). Emma has completed two solo tours across Australia - Shimmer in 2016 and East Coast Tour in 2014 - which both featured new compositions for solo saxophone by young Australian composers.