We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Emma Reinhart a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Emma, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I was originally inspired to play the saxophone at age 9 by Lisa Simpson – I had a giant sticker of her on the side of my case for several years. I started learning flute and clarinet in middle school and always took my musical studies very seriously, but I didn’t fully commit to a career in the arts until partway through college. During my freshman and sophomore years, in addition to my major in music, I was also on a pre-health track with some interest in going to pharmacy school. The summer that I was supposed to take chemistry – which is pretty important if you want to be a pharmacist! – I auditioned for and was accepted into the Disneyland All-American College Band. Sadly, that program doesn’t exist anymore, but it ran for over 45 years and was the most amazing performance and educational program. When I got back to campus, I had a much stronger sense of urgency that I needed to pursue music. I dropped pre-pharmacy, added a music industry minor, and took as many music courses as I could manage; in graduate school, I continued pursuing a breadth of musical studies. Ultimately, the dream of making music for a living has come true so far!

Emma, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a professional saxophonist and woodwind doubler, or multi-instrumentalist within the woodwind family, based in New York City. I’m currently working on Broadway in the orchestra of “Ragtime” at Lincoln Center Theater, where I play flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, and soprano saxophone. And of course outside of theater, I enjoy playing music in other settings – most recently, I played saxophone on “Rhapsody in Blue” with the New Jersey Symphony.

I also do a lot of teaching! In true freelancer fashion, I have a couple of different teaching jobs working in public and private schools. I teach private, small-group, and classroom ensemble lessons. For me, teaching is a way of giving back and remembering my own early experiences, and it’s also nice to use a different part of my brain from performing.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I really love my community – the musician and theater communities. I’ve met so many wonderful people who are equal parts talented, generous, and supportive, and especially here in the chaos of NYC, I get that sense that we’re in it together. It probably sounds cheesy, but I often look around in the pit and think we’re the lucky ones, doing what we love and sharing it with our audiences. There are definitely challenges and off-seasons, but on the whole, it’s a pretty great life!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I was just starting my career: had finished my masters’, freelanced in LA for a bit, was on tour with a musical for about 6 months, and then, COVID shut everything down. I went back home to Southern California and the tour kept assuring us that we would re-launch, so I found teaching work online and essentially waited it out. When we did relaunch, it was only for three months, and I thought, “…and then what?” So, I cast a wide net; I applied to a DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts) program on the west coast, and in the meantime, I moved to NYC, where I could literally count on one hand the number of people I knew in town. For my entire life I was so intimidated by New York and the music scene, I never thought I would move here. But then, work started to come in, and moving back to the West Coast for more schooling didn’t really make sense. Now I believe I was always meant to come to New York. I love it here!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.reinhartmusic.com/
• Instagram: @1.2.3mma
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-reinhart-83819040/

Image Credits

Jack Hartin, Andrew Bove, Richard Takenaga