Victoria Guitar Society presents classical guitarist Emma Rush

Acclaimed Canadian guitarist Emma Rush makes her Victoria debut with a program of rare and beautiful music from the 19th century, new Canadian music, and guitar repertoire classics.

Emma Rush is “widely regarded as one of Canada’s premier classical guitarists” (Vivascene Magazine) and her career has commanded world recognition. Touring highlights include the Altamira Shanghai International Guitar Festival (China), Festival de Guitarras Lagos de Moreno (Mexico), and Future Echoes Festival (Sweden), and performing on a cross-country train trip aboard The Canadian. In 2025-26 Rush will perform throughout Canada with appearances in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia, and international performances will include the Iserlohn International Guitar Symposium in Germany and a U.K. tour. “Emma Rush has crafted a sound that transcends generations and speaks directly to the heart and soul.” (Too Much Love Magazine)

Emma Rush released The Life and Times of Catharina Pratten, dedicated to the Victorian guitar icon and her circle, in 2025. The “fascinating and gorgeous recording” (CBC In Concert) contains many first recordings, that “paint a vivid portrait of Pratten’s world, blending historical significance with emotional depth”. (The Table Read). A Dream of Colour (2023) featured “exquisite additions to the contemporary Canadian guitar repertoire” (The WholeNote) that Rush commissioned. In 2020 Rush released Wake the Sigh, a collection of rare music written for guitar by women in the 19th century, almost none of which had ever been recorded before. Her earlier recordings are Canadiana and Folklórica.

Rush’s work has been heard on CBC’s In Concert and About Time, NPR’s Classical Guitar Alive!, and Radio France and she has been featured in Classical Guitar Magazine, Fretboard Journal, Record World, and Sweden’s Gitarr och Luta.

Rush is a guest lecturer at colleges and universities throughout North America and regularly presents on music history topics that “connect the dots between performance, research, and advocacy.” (Eric Alper) She was an Artist-in-Residence at the Fountain School of Performing Arts at Dalhousie University in the fall of 2016, has completed two artistic residencies at the Sointula Art Shed in remote British Columbia, and a research residency at GEDOK Schleswig-Holstein in Lübeck, Germany. She is active in presenting guitar events around the world and is Co-Director of GuitarFest West in Calgary (AB), Director of the Pigeon Lake Guitar Retreat (ON), Hamilton Guitar Day (ON), Nelson Guitar Festival (BC), and a collaborator with Wakefield Guitar Festival (QC).

Emma Rush has received three City of Hamilton Arts Awards, and has had her work supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Arts Nova Scotia, Hamilton City Enrichment Fund, and FACTOR. She completed her graduate studies at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold in Germany, and holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia.

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