Emmy The Great: Musicians in Residence, China

Emmy The Great: Musicians in Residence, China

Emmy travels to Xiamen, China as part of our Musicians in Residence programme

Credit: Alex Lake

Emmy The Great is the writer, campaigner and “bedroom pop” pioneer behind the albums First Love, Virtue and Second Love and we were delighted to support her as she travelled to Xiamen, China as part of our Musicians in Residence programme, in partnership with PRS Foundation. Emmy spent her time in Xiamen working on a new album inspired by her surroundings. "When I get back my Chinese will be soooooo good," she said.

 

Introducing Emmy The Great

 

Emmy The Great's China Blog

"One of the most extraordinary, immersive experiences of my life," says Emmy of her time in China. "Every day, we were lucky, and our instincts were rewarded with amazing coincidences. I came to believe that we were following a magical force around the city, and halfway through my residency, a woman that we met by chance told us the name of it - Yuan Fen (緣分). It means something like destiny, karma, or synchronicity." Read more about Emmy's experience in China in her blog.

 

Emmy The Great on Twitter

Emmy kept us up to date during her residency via Twitter but it wasn't always plain sailing ...

 

Emmy The Great Writer

On returning from China, Emmy wrote "Buddhist folk and pyrotechnics" for the Guardian – an article about what she had learned from her residency.

 

Emmy The Great – Mahal Kita

Emmy released her beautiful single, "Mahal Kita" in March 2017 shortly before her residency began.

 

Emmy The Great – Constantly

Emmy's single, "Constantly", is available in English and Chinese. Writing for The Guardian, she said it was "time to retire English as pop's lingua franca".