About Emma
About Emma
“Grimsley’s soprano is all steel and silver: Crescendo-ing through the upper reaches of the treble clef is an athletic endeavor, and Grimsley pulls it off without sacrificing Christine’s gossamer fragility”
“Emma Grimsley plays Christine Daaé. While the role calls for a very wide vocal range by musical theater standards, Grimsley’s voice soars up to the high notes so gracefully it makes them sound completely effortless.”
“Emma Grimsley, the sweetly innocent Johanna, offered an excellent, technically accurate ‘Green Finch and Linnet Bird.’”
“Ms. Grimsley’s extended vocal range sounds how pale pink sequins look: pretty and light, with brilliance and clarity.”
Emma Grimsley led the North American touring company of The Phantom of the Opera as Christine Daaé through its closing in February 2020.
A passionate explorer of the intersection between opera and musical theatre, Grimsley has appeared as Johanna in Sweeney Todd with New Orleans Opera, Cinderella in Into the Woods at Anapolis Opera, Cunegonde in Candide with Ash Lawn Opera, and Sally in Jerome Kern’s Sally with Light Opera of New York (recording available). In 2016, Grimsley made her Off-Broadway debut as Barbara Conti in Vid Guerriero's ¡Figaro! (90210). She reprised her role during the show’s second Off-Broadway run in 2017.
Grimsley, a champion of new works recently played Kate in the premier of Grammy Award-winning songwriter Marcus Hummon’s Favorite Son at Nashville Opera. She made her Nashville Opera debut and her Des Moines Metro Opera debut as Young Alyce in Tom Cipullo’s Glory Denied. She appeared in a workshop of Theo Popov and Tony Asaro’s new opera The Halloween Tree with American Lyric Theatre and premiered selections from Logan Skelton’s song cycle Letters to Santa. During her time as a Young Artist at The Glimmerglass Festival, Grimsley originated the roles of Reed and LadyFinger in the world premiere of Laura Karpman and Kelly Rourke’s Wilde Tales.
Grimsley made her operatic debut in 2014 as Lucia in Vespertine Opera’s production of The Rape of Lucretia. Since then, other favorite engagements have included Papagena in Die Zauberflöte with Pacific MusicWorks under the musical direction of Grammy Award winner Stephen Stubbs, Ruth Putnam in The Crucible at The Glimmerglass Festival, and Minette in the West Coast premiere of Hanz Werner Henze’s The English Cat at the University of Southern California.
In addition to her time at Glimmerglass, Grimsley has spent summers at The Seagle Music Colony, where she played Guenevere in Lerner and Lowe’s Camelot and Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, as well as at the Aspen Music Festival and School.
Grimsley is also a writer.