Emma is Chief Executive of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, a position she has held since April 2023. 

Prior to joining the CBSO she was Executive Director of Soulpepper, Toronto’s largest not-for-profit theatre company.  From 2009 - 2018, Emma was Chief Executive of Bristol Old Vic, leading the organisation in partnership with Artistic Director Tom Morris.  Together they delivered the £26m refurbishment of the historic theatre.  Their programme revitalised the organisation’s creative life and public profile; locally, nationally and internationally. She was Head of Producing for the 2009 Manchester International Festival, Head of Theatre at Arts Council England, London, Cultural Programme Advisor for the London Olympic Games, and Executive Director at BAC.  She has worked as a producer with Complicite, Headlong and the RSC. 

Emma is a trustee of The Old Vic, the Association of British Orchestras, and the Henry Barber Trust, and is a Governor of the Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust. 

She was a 2005 Clore Fellow, winner of the Clore Prize, and in 2017 was made an Honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Bristol.