Q&A
It's Q&A time! I run this fun little escapade on my Facebook page, and I’ve decided to port some of the fabulous questions into this blog post. I’ll endeavour to keep it updated as and when I’m not painting my nails.
If you have a burning desire to ask me a question, either go and take some Gaviscon, of pop over to the Book of Face here and write to me.
At the age of about ten my parents gave me a choice; drama (I was acting in professional productions at that age) or music. I chose music, and at that point I knew this is what I was supposed to do.
In terms of proper work, I’ve really done that since I was small. I played with Simon Rattle when I was about 13/14, went on my own tours “Robert Emery: Live in Concert” when I was 16, and produced and conducted a rather large scale series of concerts with the Birmingham Philharmonic when I was 17 - so I honestly can’t remember life without music!!!!
I should also say if you are interested in the story of my rise to madness, it's all written here.
I guess I find it very hard to switch off from music. It involves so many different things from MDing as you can listen to here, though to shutting myself away for a day to compose, or have a day of meetings about future TV projects. So I tend to have very little time when I’m not working. On the odd occasion, if it’s in the evening I’ll try and watch an episode of whatever series I’m into (although it takes me ages to get through them - it took nearly two years to get through my favourite which is the West Wing) or during the summer I’ll potter about in the garden.
I can’t really garden very well, but I have a ‘California’ style garden which only looks great when it’s really neat. So I’ll tidy.
Sports; well to be honest I hate exercise! So that’s sports out. And I don’t watch it unless I’m enjoying it live (I’m going to Wimbledon this year for example).
And lastly, of course I try and get some dedicated ‘boys time’ with Master T; where we are usually quite inventive on what we play.
I love the workshop. This is where we all get together before rehearsals commence and work with the writers to create the show. It's about making the songs work with the script, making the rollercoaster ride the best is can possibly be for the audience, and finding the holes in the show that need plugging. It's a very tense and tiring process, but one that is thrilling from start to finish.
And of course, the sitz-probe comes very close to being in top spot. Take a read of this article to see the daily life of an MD.
You can also listen to a podcast on creating a musical here.
I’ll be a bit controversial here and say I don’t tend to listen to music.
For one, when I’m in a project and I listen to music for work for maybe ten hours a day, the last thing I want when I ‘switch off’ is to listen to more music! Secondly, if I’m writing or orchestrating something, I don’t want it to be influenced by what I’m listening to.
I like talk radio; LBC in particular.
If however I’m in the kitchen, we tend to either have Classic FM, Radio 3 or Scala on. We also listen to a lot of musicals (Hamilton and Big Fish are my two favourites at the moment), and we seem to be playing Clean Bandit a lot as it’s nice and upbeat!
Finally, we have a great sound system in the house so I sometimes treat myself to a Sibelius symphony or a Rachmaninov piano concerto!
Me: Teddy, what do you think the name of the Partridge that's walking past us is called? Teddy: Ostrich the Donut
Sitting around a dinner table recently, he says to a family member "You know, you have a really fat tummy like mine" as he sticks out his stomach as much as possible - the table went silent for a few seconds before we all burst out laughing.
Like most children, he also picks up when adults find something funny - and uses it to the best of his ability. One of my personal favourites was the time his CK's were coming out as T's. This meant the word Train Track came out as Train Twat. 😂
And finally, there is a rare bird called a 'Blue Footed Booby' (it's real as you can see here), and when he found this out, every time we were in public place and a bird is close, he shouts at the top of his voice 'LOOK DADDY, A BLUE FOOTED BOOBY!!!!!'
I have written a musical, and I’ll be writing another one for 2021 to be premiered in Switzerland. The musical I wrote (with the fabulous Moritz Schneider) was called Anna Göldi (again has its world premiere in Switzerland). You can here some of the music here: https://www.arts-festivals.co.uk/musicals
Here is another video with a song from Anna Göldi:
Books, Music and Videos that feature Robert Emery
The Rhythm of Life - Joanna Forest, Arts Symphonic, Arts Voices & Robert Emery
Stars Are Rising - Joanna Forest, Arts Symphonic, Arts Voices & Robert Emery
4Colors - Seven, Arts Symphonic & Robert Emery
The Art Is King - Seven, City of Prague Symphony Orchestra & Robert Emery
Bat out of Hell (Original Cast Recording) - Cast and band of Bat out of Hell Manchester 2017 & Robert Emery
Singing My Dreams - Carly Paoli, José Carreras & Robert Emery
That Is His Story - Olga Thomas, Arts Symphonic & Robert Emery
Royal Platinum Love Song - Olga Thomas, Arts Symphonic & Robert Emery
Imagine - Angie Ott, City of Prague Symphony Orchestra & Robert Emery
Return of the Voice - Russell Watson, Arts Symphonic & Robert Emery
Anthems - Russell Watson, Arts Symphonic & Robert Emery
Only One Man - Russell Watson, Claude-Michel Schönberg & Robert Emery
Robert Emery: Live In Concert - Robert Emery