Canadian-born, Scotland-based composer Emily Doolittle’s music has been described as “eloquent and effective” (The WholeNote), “masterful” (Musical Toronto), and “the piece…that grabbed me by the heart” (The WholeNote). Emily has been commissioned by such ensembles as Orchestre Métropolitain, Tafelmusik, Symphony Nova Scotia, the Paragon Ensemble, and Ensemble Contemporain de Montreal, and supported by the Sorel Organization, the Hinrichsen Foundation, the Hope Scott Trust, Opera America, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Fulbright Foundation, among others.
Originally from Nova Scotia, Canada, Emily was educated at Dalhousie University, Indiana University, the Koninklijk Conservatorium, and Princeton University. From 2008-2015 she was on the faculty of Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. She now lives in Glasgow, Scotland, where she is an Athenaeum Research Fellow at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Her chamber music CD all spring, performed by the Seattle Chamber Players and friends was released on the Composers Concordance Label in 2015. She is currently writing a new piece for the Vancouver Symphony and preparing for performances of her chamber opera Jan Tait and the Bear as part of the Made in Scotland Showcase at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2018. Emily wrote the music to the Talespin tales Why the Parrot Repeats Human Words as well as The Wise Daughter.