Emilia De Geer

Swedish-Scottish pianist Emilia De Geer is a doctoral student and RCM Studentship holder working under the supervision of Prof. Richard Langham Smith and Dr. Christina Guillaumier. Her research focuses on the music of Claude Debussy and its role in the cultural and social landscape of the time. Emilia’s doctoral research project will investigate the influence of the Pre-Raphaelites and the British Aesthetic Movement on the composer’s music and Franco-Belgian Symbolism. 

Before her academic pursuits, Emilia studied piano performance with Prof. Joan Havill at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, also working closely with Prof. Paul Roberts. She holds a BMus and an MPerf in Classical Piano, graduating with First Class Honours in 2022, and winning scholarships from Help Musicians UK, the Craxton Memorial Trust, and Riddarhuset. She has been fortunate to work in projects and masterclasses with Marin Alsop, Richard Goode, Dame Imogen Cooper, and Steven Osborne, among others. Aside from classical music, Emilia has ventured into both jazz and folk music, spending several years as the pianist for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland and performing in venues across the UK. 

While at conservatoire, Emilia developed a strong interest in French music and culture, especially the works of Claude Debussy, completing her Masters thesis on a study of different exoticisms present in the piano piece Estampes. After leaving GSMD, Emilia was awarded the 2022-23 Edison Fellowship from the Sound and Vision department of the British Library. Here, she investigated Debussy’s early piano rolls from the viewpoint of a performing pianist. Emilia hopes that her joint experience as a performing musician and researcher can help offer a well-rounded perspective on the composer's works.

Faculties / departments: Research

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