To be honest I don’t think either Rachel Emerson or I had been considering the upcoming milestone of June Emerson Wind Music when she rang to chide me (gently, but firmly) about the MIA State of the Industry Report. As it turned out the Product Section (the one that reported data on sales trends over the last twelve months) hadn’t included sheet music and she felt it was a notable omission. We agreed she was right, and I promised it would be included moving forward, at which point we got into an extended discussion about digital sheet music sales and it became obvious I really had only a tacit understanding of how the business actually operated.
“Why don’t you come along and have a look around, I can talk you through it and tell you all about our upcoming anniversary as well” she proposed “we tend to open the biscuit tin when we have our mid-morning brew, if that helps”. Which it did, and explains how I came to be travelling along the A19 on a beautiful April morning, heading in the direction of Ampleforth.
Now the first thing you need to know if you are planning a visit to June Emerson Wind Music is that it is bloody easy to miss if you are following your sat nav. June Emerson originally started the business from the family home in St Albans, and when her husband took a job at Ampleforth College, the fledgling business moved north along with the family. Initially, to a new room in the new house, before expanding into a purpose-built annexe attached to the side of the property. It is this house that I almost fly past, before I spot a music-themed piece of ironmongery on a gate that prompts me to hit the brakes and turn onto the gravel drive.
I guess this is the perfect point for some historical context, so here is a quick bit of backstory from the official website;
‘June Emerson Wind Music was officially launched on May 1st 1971. June had been an active freelance bassoon player and teacher until her children were born in 1967/68. This was just at the time when teaching of wind instruments in schools was beginning to take off in the UK. Many friends, who were also teachers, were finding it difficult to get music for students as music shops kept very little repertoire. To fill this need June decided to start a mail-order specialist sheet music business for wind players, she had very little in the way of starting capital but a great deal of enthusiasm, Her first catalogue was compiled from lists of recommended music by fellow teachers, and about 50 copies were mailed out. At this time, she had no stock of music whatever. As soon as the orders started coming in she would buy in copies from the publishers for the customers and a spare copy of each title for the shelf. In this way the stock was built up, copy by copy, of music that customers really wanted. This is still how the business works today, and with the stock now standing at well over 50,000 works on the shelf and well over 100,000 listed on the website, the experiment was obviously a success.’
It is Rachel that opens the door and welcomes me in, and as I step through into the main office I am struck by how much it looks like the library at my old high school. Bespoke shelves run all the way around the room, as well as in islands dotted around the middle creating an hybrid office space with desks strategically placed in the pockets of empty floor. As I watch Victoria pops through from the room at the back, walking from shelf to shelf she picks up half a dozen different pieces of sheet music before returning from where she came to pack them for shipping. A couple of minutes later Stuart undertakes a similar journey with equal focus and precision. This is an incredible library of material, running into the tens of thousands and yet the team seem to be able to lay their hands on anything with the minimum of fuss.
Rachel returns with mugs of coffee, and I ask her about her mum. “She studied the bassoon with Frank Rendell, and as she was playing orchestral and chamber music most nights of the week she developed a real practical understanding of ensemble playing and what musicians and music teachers actually need. She was also actively involved as orchestral librarian in the early years of the Edinburgh Rehearsal Orchestra, which proved to be invaluable experience when she started the business.”
“After my brother and I came along she started making and selling oboe reeds, because she could do that from home alongside being a mum. The musicians who bought her reeds would also ask about getting hold of sheet music and it became obvious that there wasn’t enough suitable music for the increasing number of people learning wind instruments. Once she added in sourcing music for people as part of the business it quickly took over and became the main source of income.”
“Mum became known for her ability to source rare or obscure works, often going to great lengths to obtain music not readily available elsewhere. This earned the company an international reputation, with musicians around the world relying on June Emerson Wind Music for advice and supply.”
She directs me through to the printing room to explain a bit more about the range of services they offer. “Through Emerson Edition* we try and support a diverse mix of composers, helping to ensure that lesser-known works remain available. We have also taken on the printing and supply of archive catalogues for a number of well-known publishers, largely because we can handle small print runs and order quantities. The alternative is that many of these scores would either cease to be sold as physical product or even disappear altogether.”
Rachel is clearly very proud of what her mum has achieved, and she continues with something I really wasn’t expecting. “What people don’t know is the tireless work she did in Albania.” Following the collapse of the communist regime in 1990. June founded The Albanian Musicians Trust, raising funds to support the composers, musicians and music schools of that country. The significance of that work was recognised in 2012 with a formal Letter of Gratitude and an Award from the Albanian Academy of Arts.
It’s a fascinating model, one that relies on having the most comprehensive of comprehensive catalogues, but not on high volumes of a specific SKU. It is wide and shallow, and it is delivered with attention to detail and care. They have embraced digital delivery and are leveraging the publishers and composers they support to make as much sheet music available as possible, in whatever way their customers want to access it. I think it is fair to say it is a labour of love, and if I am being honest it is all the better for it.
So what about the anniversary. Well they are planning on celebrating big, with a whole host of events and offers planned (including an open week taking place at the moment). “Reaching 55 years is a big milestone for us,” says Rachel “We are very proud of the role we’ve played in bringing exceptional wind repertoire to musicians all over the world, and we are incredibly thankful to everyone who has been a part it.”
And with that I am back in the car, navigating my way back to the A19.
*Emerson Edition publications have been a fixture of the major exam syllabuses for many years.
