Emma Rush puts 19th-century female composers in the spotlight on her latest album Wake The Sigh — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
“I always try to bring something new to the guitar world with my work, whether it’s playing music by unusual composers, or playing unusual music by the usual composers,” says the award-winning classical guitarist from Hamilton. “I think it’s about time we played more music by women. There’s tons of it out there and it’s great.”
But putting Wake the Sigh together wasn’t as simple as covering some old recordings. Rush spent a couple of years visiting libraries across Europe, researching classical composers like Emilia Giuliani, Delores de Goñi and Julie Fondard and uncovering their works — many of which had not been recorded until now. The 17-track album was produced by Kirk Starkey and recorded in Hamilton, with Rush playing a replica of a 19th-century Stauffer guitar provided by Miodrag Žerdoner.
Over the last few years, Rush has quickly established herself as one of Canada’s top classical guitarists and has garnered worldwide recognition for her talents. She has made appearances at major guitar festivals in Germany, Mexico, Sweden, the U.S. and Canada, and even gone on a four-city mini-tour in China.
Prior to Wake the Sigh, she released the albums Folklórica (2014) and Canadiana (2017). The former took listeners on a musical journey across four continents with works inspired by folk music and legend. The latter featured songs by Canadian songwriters like Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot and Stan Rogers.
Listen to Wake The Sigh above, hear more from Emma Rush below, and keep up with her via her website, Facebook and Instagram.
