Dame Emma entered into the world of early music in the early 1970s, bringing a new, purer, style of singing. She’s performed with the Consort of Musicke and the Academy of Ancient Music from their beginnings and other regular collaborators include London Baroque, the Freiburg Barockorchester, L’orfeo, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Palladian Ensemble and Florilegium.

She remains a very active performer, with a steady stream of recordings, and a busy concert schedule which includes ten concerts in eight countries in August and September this year. Dame Emma’s characteristically humble comment was that “My greatest pleasure has been to work collaboratively, drawing inspiration from musicologists, directors and colleagues, both vocal and instrumental. I am deeply grateful for this honour, which I see as a celebration of the powers of ensemble, clarity and stillness, beyond those of volume and display.”