Emma Hedrick - Jazz Vocalist, Composer and Arranger  

Vocalist, composer, and arranger, Emma Hedrick, 24, currently attends the Royal Conservatoire in the Hague, Netherlands following her Master's in Vocal Jazz with a focus on composition. She is studying with Professors Anka Koziel and Wolfert Brederode. Emma has a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Jazz Performance ('22) from the University of Miami, Frost School of Music, where she was a member of the award-winning Extensions vocal jazz ensemble under the direction of Dr. Kate Reid. A native to Indianapolis, Emma has performed across the world at venues such as the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) and Konzerthaus (Berlin) with the Jong Metropole Orkest, The Benedict Music Tent (Colorado) as the vocalist for the Aspen Summer JAS Academy, The Telluride Jazz Festival (Colorado), The Jazz Kitchen, and Indy Jazzfest (Indiana), The New World Center (Miami), and The Baryshnikov Center (NYC). Emma aspires to take her audiences through the story of each song she sings and strives to use the voice in traditional and nontraditional ways. She is inspired by the jazz greats including Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Josephine Baker, and Betty Carter. 

Emma’s formal musical journey began at the age of nine performing in the Indianapolis Children’s Choir. With this choir, she had the opportunity to perform at various prestigious venues around Indianapolis and to travel to New York City to perform at Carnegie Hall. During a unit on jazz music, she was first introduced to the music of Duke Ellington and immediately knew that she needed to investigate this music further. 

Shortly after, Emma formed her first trio and began gigging around Indianapolis and her hometown of Carmel. Performing with this trio was her crash course in arranging, composition, and bandleading. At this time, her interest in French music and culture was solidified and has continued to be an important creative influence on her music. She also began studying with Erin Benedict (Butler University, Jazz Voice), Dr. Gary Walters (Butler University professor, Jazz Piano), and Maggie Arcoleo (Classical Voice).  

Additionally in high school, in 2017 and 2018 Emma was a National YoungArts winner in Jazz Voice. She attended the New York Regional YoungArts program in April 2018. In the summer of 2018, Emma performed at the Telluride Jazz Festival as the vocalist for the Telluride Jazz All-Stars.  In 2018, Emma composed an original score and song, "You've Been On My Mind", for a short film, directed by Justin Park.  She is the vocalist and pianist for the recording as well.  This won the “Best Original Score" award at the All-American High School Film Festival. 

Emma is a seven-time DownBeat Student Music Award Winner.  In 2017 and 2018, DownBeat Magazine named Emma the national winner for their annual Student Music Awards in the high school vocal jazz soloist category.  In 2020, she was a member of the Frost Woman's Vocal Jazz Ensemble, a small vocal jazz ensemble, that won Outstanding Performance in the undergraduate college category. In 2021 and 2022 Emma was recognized with an Outstanding Performance in the Undergraduate Vocal Jazz Soloist Category. Also in 2022, she was a member of the Frost Extensions Ensemble that won the graduate college category. In 2023, Emma won in the Graduate College Vocal Jazz Soloist category. 

In the summer of 2023, Emma was a Soloist in the Jong Metropole Orkest conducted by Chris Walden. As a part of the "Let the Good Times Roll" tour, she performed across the Netherlands and Germany in the Orpheus Theater (Apeldoorn, NL), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam, NL), Caprera Theater (Bloemendaal, NL) and Konzerthaus (Berlin, DE). In 2021, Emma was honored with the title of Presser Scholar, a prestigious academic and music-based scholarship funded by the Presser Foundation. In 2019, Emma was named a top-five finalist in the International Ella Fitzgerald Vocal Competition held in Washington, DC.  She placed 3rd in the competition.

Respecting the history of jazz in Indianapolis and learning the stories as well as engaging with this history is something that is important to Emma. She has had the privilege to share the stage with many esteemed Indianapolis-based musicians including Rob Dixon, Everett Greene, Nick Tucker, Kenny Phelps, and Steve Allee. Emma is grateful for the support of these musicians in her journey and that they continue to share and pass along the responsibility of keeping the Indy scene vibrant. Emma was a member of the Indianapolis Jazz Futures and continues to engage with the Indianapolis Jazz Foundation. Additionally, Emma was a docent at The Great American Songbook Foundation for the Songbook Exhibit Gallery at The Palladium in Carmel, IN for their exhibits on the Andrews Sisters and Ella Fitzgerald. There she was also a member of Perfect Harmony, a part of Michael Feinstein's The Great American Songbook Foundation. With Perfect Harmony, a music program that collaborates with Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers, Emma performed jazz standards weekly for residents of local nursing homes. 

Emma also enjoys teaching and sharing the music she loves with students. In Miami, she taught at the Miami Community Arts Program (voice, piano, and songwriting) and the Barrett School of Music (voice, piano). Emma was a vocal jazz TA for the Butler Summer Jazz Camp and for the Miami Children's Chorus’s contemporary choirs. She continues to teach through her own private studio and is looking forward to assisting with the Vocal Jazz Ensemble at the Royal Conservatoire this school year. 

Emma attended the University of Miami Frost School of Music studying studio music and vocal jazz on a Presidential Music scholarship. At this University, she has studied in the studios of Dr. Charlie Christenson (Jazz Voice),  Alison Wedding (Jazz Voice), Dr. Kate Reid (Jazz Voice), and Dr. Stephen Guerra Jr. (Jazz Composition).  Since the fall of 2022, she is attending the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, Netherlands to pursue a Master of Music degree in Vocal Jazz Performance with a focus on composition.

Emma enjoys being outside in nature hiking, running, and practicing yoga. While growing up in Indiana, she spent her free time outside playing and exploring. She thinks it is important to connect with this curiosity and awe of the natural world and tries to incorporate the fearlessness of exploration in her music.