Biography

Emma Riebe is a musician, teacher, and creative who loves movement, a good book, being outdoors as much as possible, and is a newbie gardener. Posted up in Flagstaff, AZ since 2012, she has been cultivating a creative hub for herself and her students in the mountain town that has become home.

 

Emma is a cellist who studied cello performance with teacher Mary Ann Ramos at Northern Arizona University and under Tanya Carey, Avi Friedlander, and Carey Cheney in Suzuki pedagogy. She was the winner of NAU's Concerto Competition and had the privilege of performing the Elgar Cello Concerto with their symphony orchestra. Emma is also a member of the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra and plays in various chamber groups, recently having the incredible opportunity to perform chamber music in the Grand Canyon on an 8-day river trip.

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Emma loves crafting gorgeous moody string arrangements for other musicians. She got her start after spending the majority of her twenties in TOW'RS, an alternative folk band out of Flagstaff. With the group (who are also some of her most beloved friendships) she developed a whole new side of live collaboration and performance (often improvisatory) as a result of the several cross-country tours she performed on. From the process of producing most of the strings on the four albums she was involved in the making of, she forged her muscles for studio producing and recording.  Emma likes to write string parts that bring in unexpected colors and moods, and reflect the complexities and contradictions that is being human. A fairly new composer/producer of original music, she released two singles, "Drawers" and "Hold My Tongue" under her self-titled project back in 2019 and is currently completing an original string quartet.

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As a teacher, Emma has spent the last several years studying Suzuki Pedagogy and building up her cello studio in Flagstaff, AZ. Fueled by the relationships with her students and their families, teaching is a bright and energizing time in her day. Emma believes that with the right mentor, environment, and hard work, cultivating beauty and community through the cello is accessible to anyone, and holds her role in each student's journey preciously. 

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Emma does not take lightly the importance of daily movement, breathing exercises, and a dose of Vtiman D every day! Being a cellist means a lot of sitting and a lot of opportunity for negative self-talk so she has worked hard to carve out regular time for outlets that keep her mind healthy and positive. This includes yoga, trail running, reading, and interior design. She truly believes that music, movement, breath, and mind are all connected and that the end goal is to achieve balance.