{"id":126232,"date":"2026-07-28T12:57:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T16:57:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=126232"},"modified":"2026-07-28T14:00:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T18:00:02","slug":"interview-guitarist-emma-rush-talks-new-ep-video-project-home-sweet-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2026\/07\/28\/interview-guitarist-emma-rush-talks-new-ep-video-project-home-sweet-home\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Guitarist Emma Rush Talks About Her New EP And Video Project Home Sweet Home"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_126234\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-126234\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-126234\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-07-28T124633.876.jpg\" alt=\"Classical guitarist Emma Rush (Photo: Sandra Mulder)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-07-28T124633.876.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-07-28T124633.876-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-07-28T124633.876-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-07-28T124633.876-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-126234\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Classical guitarist Emma Rush (Photo: Sandra Mulder)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In her new EP Home Sweet Home, classical guitarist Emma Rush continues the work she began with her last release, spotlighting the music of 19th century composer Catharina Pratten. The three-song EP is combined with a video series that highlights the beauty of the Hamilton region she calls home.<\/p>\n<p>Emma is not only a classical performer with an international reputation, she is something of a music detective who has unearthed music by forgotten women composers like Pratten.<\/p>\n<p>On the new EP, Rush pairs each work with a video filmed in Hamilton&#8217;s historic landmarks. Together, the project combines music, heritage, and a sense of home. Home Sweet Home, the title track, also has a personal connection. The composition is based on a common song that her own grandparents used to sing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel like coming from Hamilton has really influenced me as a musician and I wanted to find a way to connect that sense of place with what I do,\u201d Rush mentions in a statment.<\/p>\n<p>LV caught up with Emma Rush to talk about the new release.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MHWS-1wFFLc?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h2>Emma Rush<\/h2>\n<p>Based in Hamilton, Ontario today, Emma Rush studied guitar at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, where she earned a Bachelor of Music degree. She followed up with graduate studies, which she completed at the Hochschule f\u00fcr Musik Detmold in Germany.<\/p>\n<p>She has since carved out a multifaceted career as performer, educator, and historical researcher who has brought the music of many forgotten women composers back into the spotlight.<\/p>\n<p>Notable recent performances include appearances at the Altamira Shanghai International Guitar Festival (China), Festival de Guitarras Lagos de Moreno (Mexico), and Future Echoes Festival (Sweden). She performed on a cross-country train trip aboard The Canadian, and has played on stages across the country, including concerts in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia in 2025\/26 alone. International performances this past season include the Iserlohn International Guitar Symposium in Germany and a U.K. tour.<\/p>\n<p>As a recording artist, she has released several albums, including 2025\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/classicalfm.ca\/ludwig-van\/toronto\/2025\/05\/29\/interview-classical-guitarist-emma-rush-the-life-and-times-of-catharina-pratten\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Life and Times of Catharina Pratten<\/a>, which she dedicated to the Victorian guitar virtuoso and her contemporaries. It wasn\u2019t the first time she has dedicated her work to the music of women composers. Her 2020 release Wake the Sigh was devoted to music written for the guitar by women in the 19th century, most of which had never been recorded previously.<\/p>\n<p>As an educator, Emma has served as a guest lecturer at universities and colleges across Canada and the US, and often focuses on music history that brings performance, research, and advocacy together. She was Artist-in-Residence at the Fountain School of Performing Arts at Dalhousie University, and has completed two artistic residencies at the Sointula Art Shed in remote British Columbia. She is Co-Director of GuitarFest West in Calgary (AB), Director of the Pigeon Lake Guitar Retreat (ON), Hamilton Guitar Day (ON), Nelson Guitar Festival (BC), and a collaborator with Wakefield Guitar Festival (QC).<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JbowubgOM8M?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h2>Emma Rush: The Interview<\/h2>\n<p>Home Sweet Home is already the second release where Rush features the work of Catharina Pratten. Is there more in store?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s enough music for a couple more albums for sure,\u201d Rush says.<\/p>\n<p>The genesis for Home Sweet Home, however, was multi-pronged. \u201cIt started with a video project,\u201d she explains. \u201cMy idea was to pair the music of Catharina Pratten and a vintage guitar that is a Pratten.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She performs the music on a rare guitar that was signed by Pratten herself. The historic Pratten model guitar was built by Boosey and Sons, bearing not only Pratten\u2019s signature, but her handwritten date and serial number.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also about a sense of home that ties in perfectly with the title song.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy artistic identity and my whole identity is influenced so much by coming from Hamilton,\u201d she says. \u201cAs a classical musician, it\u2019s not so easy to express that, unlike a singer-songwriter, for example.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The three videos were recorded in historic Hamilton locations that date from about the same Victorian time period as Pratten\u2019s music.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI went to Dundurn Castle, and incredible historical landmark,\u201d she says. \u201cI went to the Print House, which is a backpackers\u2019 hostel now.\u201d Now called the Pring House, the backpackers\u2019 hostel includes a gorgeous three-story staircase.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd also the Customs House, now the Workers Arts Heritage Centre,\u201d Emma notes. \u201cI thought it was really inspiring to be able to play this old guitar from the 1850s in rooms where that guitar might have been played.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WOLZob7PbiQ?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>Along with the authentic feel of a vintage guitar and location shoots, Rush wanted to include a new dimension to the recording.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to put something out on vinyl,\u201d she says, \u201cand when I realized these three songs would fit on a 7-inch records, I just went for it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As she points out, when it comes to record sales and touring, a 7-inch vinyl release is much easier to transport than a full-length LP.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s proved a popular move with her fans.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been very positive,\u201d she says of the feedback. \u201cPeople love the format. They\u2019re flying off the merch table where I\u2019ve played so far. People are really enjoying the videos.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While the videos are focused on Hamilton, she\u2019s found that positive reaction extends far beyond the city limits.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s a beautiful pairing of the visuals and the music,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<h3>The Music<\/h3>\n<p>Pratten was a guitar virtuoso, and not only wrote her own music, she developed a new way of notating her compositions. Her music is colourful and melodic. Two of the songs on the new EP have never been recorded before. Pratten\u2019s music is romantic and rhythmic, and blends well with the sites she\u2019s chosen for the videos.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHome Sweet Home is based on There\u2019s No Place Like Home,\u201d Rush explains. \u201cPeople really connect with the melody. It was a popular melody in the 1800s, but even young people recognize it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pratten took the familiar song and created her own take on it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe set that melody for guitar. She plays around with the melody \u2014 it\u2019s a theme and variations,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n<p>For Rush, Pratten holds an endless fascination.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPart of it is that I\u2019m just so interested in her,\u201d Emma says. \u201cShe\u2019s such a success story for women in music, at a time when there were not a lot of paths to success in the field.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Rush points out, she was a pioneer in many ways.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was an influential educator. She was a publisher. She was involved with instrument development. She developed different kinds of notation,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut of course, at the heart of it all is her music. Her music just draws me in. Her personality just jumps off the page. The melodies are really catchy, and she can really create a mood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Those moods incorporate a wide emotional range, and she often gave her works titles like Sadness, Weary, Forgotten.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut, she also wrote some beautiful pieces about love that are so stirring.\u201d Other pieces were inspired by specific characters or people, and include marches and dances. \u201cShe stays really true to her own life, but really brings out different characters in her music.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pratten was a musical storyteller.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think she really is one of those people, she doesn\u2019t need words. She brings an idea to life through music in a way that really grabs me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There is still more music of hers that is left to explore.<\/p>\n<p>Emma combines performance with her ongoing research into Pratten and her music. She is currently on tour, and was in Newfoundland to perform at the very first classical guitar festival in St. John\u2019s, the Guitarnival, presented by the Atlantic Guitar Society (AGS), from July 23 to 26.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd then I\u2019m heading in London to do a little bit of research on Catharina Pratten,\u201d Rush says.<\/p>\n<p>On July 30, she\u2019ll be attending the Iserlohn Guitar Symposium in Germany, and on August 11, GuitarFest West in Calgary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a gift that keeps on giving.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Listen To The Music<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>You can download or stream Home Sweet Home, and buy the 7-inch vinyl record, on Bandcamp [<a href=\"https:\/\/emmarush.bandcamp.com\/album\/home-sweet-home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>Are you looking to promote an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/advertising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a\"><u>event<\/u><\/span><\/a>? 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