Emma Grimsley

Emma Grimsley is currently in the North American touring company of The Phantom of the Opera as understudy for the role of Christine Daaé.

A passionate explorer of the intersection between opera and musical theatre, Grimsley has appeared as Johanna in Sweeney Todd with New Orleans Opera, Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof with Shreveport Opera, Cunegonde in Candide with Ash Lawn Opera, and Sally in Jerome Kern’s Sally with Light Opera of New York (recording now available). In 2016, Grimsley made her Off-Broadway debut as Barbara Conti in Vid Guerriero's ¡Figaro! (90210). She reprised her role during the show’s second Off-Broadway run in 2017.

Grimsley, a champion of new works, made her Nashville Opera debut as Young Alyce in Tom Cipullo’s Glory Denied. Recently, she appeared in a workshop of Theo Popov and Tony Asaro’s new opera The Halloween Tree with American Lyric Theatre and premiered selections from Logan Skelton’s song cycle Letters to Santa. During her time as a Young Artist at The Glimmerglass Festival, Grimsley originated the roles of Reed and LadyFinger in the world premiere of Laura Karpman and Kelly Rourke’s Wilde Tales.

Grimsley made her operatic debut in 2014 as Lucia in Vespertine Opera’s production of The Rape of Lucretia. Since then, other favorite engagements have included Papagena in Die Zauberflöte with Pacific MusicWorks under the musical direction of Grammy Award winner Stephen Stubbs, Ruth Putnam in The Crucible at The Glimmerglass Festival, and Minette in the West Coast premiere of Hanz Werner Henze’s The English Cat at the University of Southern California.

In addition to her time at Glimmerglass, Grimsley has spent summers at The Seagle Music Colony, where she played Guenevere in Lerner and Lowe’s Camelot and Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, as well as at the Aspen Music Festival and School.

Grimsley is also a published writer.