Emily Horton (Hammond) is a composer, classically trained pianist, arranger and songwriter. She has worked as an accompanist, studio musician, arranger, and transcriber, collaborating with international musicians, composers, musical writers, church and community orchestras, worship bands, and singer/songwriters.

Her music includes works for solo piano, chamber ensembles, choir, musical theater, orchestra, film, electronics and other multimedia. In style, her music reflects a full spectrum of influences, from classical to jazz and from classic rock to movie scores.

In 2018, Dallas Baptist University premiered her Mass in A: A Soundtrack of Grace, a setting of the mass ordinary for mixed choir and string ensemble, electric guitar and harp. From 2018 to 2019, Emily collaborated as music director, accompanist and arranger for the musical Beyond Perfection, which became a finalist in the 2020 Rave Festival in New York City. In 2019, the Texas Christian University Symphony Orchestra read the first movement of Emily’s To Wander and Return: A Concerto for Organ and Orchestra, with Emily performing the organ solo. She released her first EP of solo piano, Winter, in February 2021 on all music platforms. Later that year, she premiered her first orchestral commission, Rondo for Cello, Oboe and Orchestra, as part of an orchestra community concert in North Richland Hills, Texas.

From 2020 to the present, Emily has collaborated with international trombonist Peter Steiner and his partner Constanze Hochwartner, arranging several classical and Christmas works for organ and trombone, and piano and trombone. The duo commissioned her to write an original fantasy for trombone and piano, which premiered in 2022 as a part of their concert tours. Her arrangements can be heard on their albums Binary Star (2021), The First Noel - Christmas, Vol. 1 (2021), 2022 (2022), and Double Exposure (2023).

In 2023, the choral ensemble Voces Pacis premiered Emily's choir composition Be Still and Know in the final concert of their second season. The choir later performed the piece on their England tour in July 2023, making the piece's international premiere at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford and later at Oxford Guild Chapel in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Emily holds a Master of Music in music composition from Texas Christian University and a Bachelor of Music in music theory and composition from Dallas Baptist University. She is from Austin, Texas and lives with her husband in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Photo credits: Teal Roberts.