Simon Emmerson

Simon Emmerson was the first Musician Fellow at Digswell Arts, joining the community at Digswell House in 1972 and remaining there until 1977.

A composer and musician, Simon helped establish music as an important part of Digswell’s multidisciplinary creative community. He was followed as Musician Fellow by Veryan Weston and Lol Coxhill, both of whom became significant figures in British experimental and improvised music. In May 1978, led by Lol they came together at Digswell House (Simon) and at the Oxford Museum of Modern Art (Veryan) to record Digswell Duets. The album captured a series of exploratory musical collaborations between these Digswell Fellows and was released by Random Radar Records (vinyl) in 1979 and later by Emanem Records (CD). The disc was included in ‘100 Records that set the World on Fire’ in The Wire, September 1998.

Simon’s fellowship reflects Digswell Arts’ long-standing commitment to bringing together artists working across different disciplines and supporting experimentation, collaboration and the development of new creative ideas.