Emily Bear facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Emily Bear
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Bear performing at Night of the Proms 2017
in SAP Arena, Mannheim (Germany) |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Emily Jordan Bear |
| Born | August 30, 2001 |
| Origin | Rockford, Illinois, U.S. |
| Genres | Classical, jazz, film score, musical theatre |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, pianist, songwriter and singer |
| Instruments | Piano, vocals |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Associated acts | Quincy Jones |
Emily Jordan Bear (born August 30, 2001) is an American composer, pianist, songwriter, and singer. She started playing piano and writing music when she was very young. Emily made her first professional piano performance at the Ravinia Festival when she was only five years old. She was the youngest person ever to play there!
Emily became more well-known after appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show several times, starting when she was six. Since then, she has played her own music and other famous pieces with orchestras and groups all over the world. She has performed at famous places like Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. Emily has won many awards, including two Morton Gould Young Composer Awards and two Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Awards. She was the youngest person to win these awards.
In 2013, Emily released an album of her own jazz songs called Diversity. It was produced by her mentor, Quincy Jones. She writes and plays classical, jazz, and pop music. She also creates music for movies and TV shows. In 2017, she released an EP (a shorter album) called Into the Blue with her jazz trio. Emily was the youngest performer ever on the Night of the Proms tour in 2017. Her 2019 EP Emotions was special because it was the first time she sang her own songs.
In 2021, Emily and Abigail Barlow wrote an album together called The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical. It was inspired by the Netflix show Bridgerton. This album won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album in 2022. This made Emily the youngest Grammy nominee and winner in that category! In 2022, Forbes magazine included her in their "Forbes 30 Under 30" list. In 2023, she became the youngest person to create the music for a movie released on a streaming platform with Dog Gone. In mid-2023, Emily toured as the main pianist for Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour. Emily and Abigail Barlow also wrote songs for the Disney animated movie Moana 2, which came out in 2024.
Early Life and Musical Beginnings
Emily Bear was born and grew up in Rockford, Illinois. She is the youngest of three children. Her mom, Andrea Bear, is a music teacher and has sung professionally. Emily was homeschooled for a few years. She then went to Guilford High School in Rockford, graduating at age 15 in 2017.
Discovering a Gift for Music
When Emily was two years old, her grandmother, who was a piano teacher, noticed her amazing talent. By age three, Emily had already written her first song, "Crystal Ice." The next year, she started studying piano with Emilio del Rosario at the Music Institute of Chicago. A music company called Hal Leonard Music has been publishing Emily's original songs since she was only four years old.
Early Performances and Awards
Emily made her first professional piano performance at the Ravinia Festival when she was five. She was the youngest performer to ever play there. At age six, in 2008, she won her first ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award for her song "Northern Lights." She was the youngest composer to win this award.
As a young child, Emily appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show six times. In 2008, when she was six, she played at the White House for President George W. Bush. She also performed Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 with the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra at age seven. By the time she was eight, Emily had written more than 350 songs!
Learning from the Best
From age six, Emily studied classical piano with Mary Sauer, who used to be the main keyboard player for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Later, she studied with Veda Kaplinsky, who leads the piano department at the Juilliard School. Emily also studied jazz and film scoring. She was the youngest composer to attend the NYU Steinhardt Film Scoring Workshop in 2013.
Amazing Career Highlights
Carnegie Hall Debut and Festivals
In 2010, Emily made her debut at Carnegie Hall when she was nine years old. She played her own song for orchestra and choir, called "Peace: We Are the Future." That same year, she performed on the TV show Dancing with the Stars.
In 2011, Emily started working with Quincy Jones, who became her mentor and manager. He introduced her at big music festivals like the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. There, she played her original song "Peralada." Later in 2011, she performed with Quincy Jones at the Hollywood Bowl. She played her own music and also joined singers like Gloria Estefan. Quincy Jones said he was "astounded and inspired" by Emily's huge talent.
Diversity Album Success
In 2013, Emily released Diversity, an album of her own jazz songs. It was produced by Quincy Jones. The album reached No. 5 on Billboard's Jazz Albums chart. Critics praised her playing, saying she could improvise well and switch between different music styles easily. They said her music felt deep and sensitive, not like a child's work.
Emily also wrote music for a national ad campaign for Weight Watchers in 2013. A TV documentary called "Girl with a Gift" was made about her early talent, and it won an Emmy Award. Emily often donates some of her earnings to charity.
Performances and New Trio
In 2014, Emily performed on The Queen Latifah Show, singing "The Girl from Ipanema" while playing piano. She also showed how she could create musical stories on the spot. She performed George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with several orchestras. Since 2014, Emily has led the Emily Bear Trio, with Peter Slavov on bass and Mark McLean on drums.
In 2015, Emily won another ASCAP award for her orchestral piece "Les Voyages." She also played a solo piano version of "He's There" on the Broadway cast recording of Doctor Zhivago. She composed and performed an orchestral piece called "The Bravest Journey" for a veterans' event in her hometown.
Into the Blue and Proms Tour
On January 27, 2017, Emily released a jazz EP called Into the Blue with her trio. It included five of her original jazz songs. Reviewers said Emily showed skill far beyond her age. The EP reached No. 7 on Billboard's Jazz Albums chart.
In 2017, Emily received her second ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Award. She also performed at the Hollywood Bowl, playing the piano music for the Tom and Jerry cartoon The Cat Concerto live. From November to December 2017, Emily performed on the Night of the Proms tour in Europe. She was the youngest artist ever to be part of this big concert tour. She played many different pieces, including her own arrangements and improvisations.
In 2018, Emily received Illinois' highest honor, the Order of Lincoln Award. She was the youngest person to ever receive it. She also performed at the Hollywood Bowl again, playing music for Disney films.
Emotions and Bridgerton Musical
In February 2019, Emily played with the World Doctors Orchestra in Israel to help children needing heart surgery. She also composed and sang two songs, "More than Just a Girl" and "Daylight," for the movie Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase.
Emily released an EP of pop songs called Emotions in October 2019. A song from the album, "I'm Not Alone," was featured on a TV show. She performed another song, "Dancin'," on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Critics said her songs combined jazzy pop vocals with catchy tunes.
Emily met songwriter Abigail Barlow around 2019. In 2021, they wrote songs together for a musical inspired by the Netflix series Bridgerton. They streamed their songwriting sessions online and posted demos on TikTok. Their songs became very popular, getting over 300 million views! Emily orchestrated and produced a full album of 15 songs, The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical, which they released on September 10, 2021. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album in 2022. Emily is the youngest Grammy nominee and winner in the musical theater category.
Also in 2021, Emily orchestrated and conducted "The Magic Is Calling," a song for Walt Disney World's 50th anniversary. She also composed music for a documentary, winning a Los Angeles Area Emmy Award for it.
Recent Projects and Tours
Emily was named one of Forbes magazine's "Forbes 30 Under 30" in 2022. She played piano on the soundtrack for the game Syberia: The World Before. In 2022, Emily and Abigail Barlow performed songs from their Bridgerton album on TV shows like Today and The Kelly Clarkson Show. They also performed their album live with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center.
In 2022, Emily and Abigail Barlow wrote the music for Mexican Pizza: The Musical, a fun show for Taco Bell that featured Doja Cat and Dolly Parton.
Emily composed the music for the Netflix movie Dog Gone, which came out in January 2023. This made her the youngest person to score a feature film for a streaming platform. Critics praised her "fine score," calling it charming, warm, and enjoyable.
In mid-2023, Emily toured as the main pianist for Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour. Emily and Abigail Barlow also wrote songs for the Disney animated film Moana 2, released in 2024. They are the youngest composers and the first female writing team for a Disney animated movie. Two of their songs were nominated for awards. In 2024, Emily also created the music for the indie film K-Pops! and the Netflix movie Our Little Secret.
Discography
- Five Years Wise (2007)
- The Love in Us (2008)
- Once Upon a Wish (2008)
- Always True (2009)
- Hope (2010)
- Diversity (2013)
- Into the Blue EP (2017)
- Emotions EP (2019)
- The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical (2021, with Abigail Barlow)
- Moana 2 (2024, with Barlow, Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foaʻi)
See also
In Spanish: Emily Bear para niños
