Emma Welton

Location: Exeter, UK

Pronouns: She/her

Artforms
Classical music / Sound art / experimental music

Topic Areas
Biodiversity / Energy Security / Migration

Change-Making Skills

Public speaking / Persuasive writing / music practice!

Website . SoundCloud . Contact . Instagram

About

I am a Devon-based violinist and composer committed to decarbonisation and nurturing a liveable future. A signatory at Culture Declares Emergency, I cultivate ethical collaborations consistent with climate science, led by empathy, which minimise carbon emissions. I start by listening. I like working outdoors, embedded in human and more-than-human community and place. My Exeter Sound Walks were shortlisted for the Sound Walk September award in 2020. Today I lead Sound Walks for groups of curious listeners. My music situates human music-making within a broader kind of attention, resulting in works co-created with habitat. This has found expression through creative work with Tidelines and Exe Estuary oysters, blue mussels, overwintering birds and humans. Silver & Spruce (& Here), for flute, piano and seed-sowing, commissioned by Duo Tutti was released on CD in 2025. I have found understated riches curating A Quiet Night In exploring the creative possibilities in quiet/silence.

Project Goals for the next 6-12 Months

My French violin is 100 years old in 2026. I have played it for 35 years. I am tracing the origin story of its tonewood, Norway spruce, which germinated and grew in Saxony. I will compose a solo violin/voice/habitat piece for performance alongside Norway spruce trees. It will be a cross between a guided sound walk and a performance for people who live among and visit the trees. I am researching Norway spruce, European history of 1926 including the rise of fascism. I want the piece to bathe us in a sense of tree time. I am listening to sea lamprey making redds in the river Exe. I am hoping to create a geo-located sound walk from Exeter’s Custom House to the redds which is experienced via bone-conducting headphones so the listener retains connection with the real sounds of the habitat while on a pre-recorded (musical and verbal) journey. I want to build a stronger community of musical performers who are inspired and committed to doing things differently to minimise our carbon emissions.