“Quietly transfixing” composer/producer EMILY WELLS is known for her varied use of classical and modern instrumentation, “a master of blending the worlds of classical and electronics” (NPR) and “dramatic, meticulous and gothic songs” (New York Times).  On stage Wells’ builds a “new instrument” out of acoustic and electronic drums, synth, violin, and her evocative performances leave audiences equal parts dancing and grieving.  Wells’ latest full-length record, This World is Too _____ For You, has been hailed by NPR as “breathtaking” “mind-blowing” and “visionary”.  The ten song album, arranged for chamber ensemble by composer Michi Wiancko, was commissioned by Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music Series and Metropolis Ensemble who performs on the album along with drummer/composer Shayna Dunkelman. Wells received the NYFA Women in music grant in 2020. She has toured internationally performing notably at Lincoln Center Out of Doors, The Guggenheim, MASS MoCA, Celebrate Brooklyn, The Getty, and MoMA. She has lectured at The National Gallery of Art, Emory College, Treefort Music Festival,  and Arcosanti’s Convergence Festival. 

Artist Statement: My work bridges pop and chamber music and explores concepts around human relation to the natural world rooted in a love for both. I am interested in the ways performance and recordings influence one another and I work in both realms. The work interacts with my video practice through projection at performances which intersects imagery of contemporary dance, extreme weather and effects of climate crisis, with archival protest footage from ACT UP. I have toured internationally and had the pleasure of performing and/or lecturing at Lincoln Center Out of Doors, BAM, The National Gallery in DC, The Guggenheim, The Getty, Celebrate Brooklyn, MASS MoCA, and The Natural History Museum Los Angeles, among others. In the last few years I have been in collaboration via commissions with the Paris Review, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music Series, and NYC’s Metropolis Ensemble and am currently in conversation with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for a forthcoming collaboration. I have released five full length albums along with various EPs, some on my own label, Thesis & Instinct Records, and also on Partisan Records. My latest album, This World is Too ____ For You, was released March 2019 to critical praise. I am currently writing and recording my next album along with a collection of essays.