In Memory of George Emlen

Announcements

04.10.2026

George Emlen
1944 – 2026

Present in all the vigorous and joyful celebrations of Revels is the quiet mystery of death. Last week, the Revels family lost our dear friend, colleague, and gifted musician, George Emlen, who served as Music Director of Revels for four decades. Please keep his wife, Jan, his children Hannah and Sasho, and grandchildren Juniper, Marigold, and Hazel, in your thoughts.

Michael Kolowich, longtime filmmaker for Revels, wrote: “I was heartbroken to hear the news of George’s passing. He meant so very much to me and to so many in the Revels family. And I do mean family, because he treated us all like brothers and sisters and colleagues and friends and fellow travelers. As soon as I heard the news, I re-watched the film I made about George’s life with Revels. And I was reminded of what an extraordinary creative force and leader he was.”

In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes donations to Revels in honor of George: revels.org or Revels, 2 Brattle Square, Cambridge, MA 02138. A memorial celebration of his life will be held in the spring; we will share the details as soon as we know them.

Below is a remembrance of George, from Susan Cooper, author of The Shortest Day, and longtime friend and collaborator of Revels.

With love to George, from Susan

At the heart of every Revels is its music, sung by many voices, and always behind that singing chorus is the music director. George Emlen worked a magic on Revels choruses for thirty-five years, after first meeting Jack Langstaff – “the great mentor of my musical life” – in the 1970s. Already a brilliant conductor, teacher, and composer, George was ideal for what he called “the whole Revels aesthetic – about finding magic in a simple melody, finding beauty in a strange song, and tapping into the power of an audience singing.” For three decades, he chose and trained every Revels chorus, adults or children, collaborated on every script, oversaw the production of every Revels record, and drew music out of thousands of non-singers at RiverSings – among many other things, and alongside much choral and university work. Kind, demanding, perceptive, joyful, he made us all sing. And he was a wonderful friend.

After his retirement as Revels music director, I wrote George a piece that he called “your sweet love note on the musical life of GE.” Here it is, because it was indeed written with love. Like many of you, I shall always miss him.

Once upon a time there was a musical boy;
When he was seven years old he learned the piano,
When he was 14 he learned the organ;
He loved the Kingston Trio, so he learned banjo as well.
And because most of all he loved Bach,
He learned….. the accordion. It was the poor man’s organ,
And portable.
There he was: keyboards, choral singing, folk –
His life was a garden full of music
Growing all around him, like trees.

The musical boy grew up to be a musical man
With a truly astonishing ear.
He could tell that his refrigerator hummed in B flat –
Imagine that! –
And that if you slammed the door of his VW Bug
It made a ping that was the A above middle C.
Up in Maine, the birds sang into his astonishing ear
And he heard more than we do;
Did you know that every single white-throated sparrow sings a different song?
Our musical man does.
He knows that some sing in a perfect fourth
Some in a major third
Some in a minor third;
And that each bird passes this on, from generation to generation.

He was born to become a choral conductor, our musical man,
And so he did;
And when a magician named Jack Langstaff came into his life
And bewitched him into the Revels,
There, waiting, was the chorus, like the refrigerator
Or the generations of birds
Or like a winter garden, waiting
To be planted every fall,
To be fed and cultivated every Christmas,
To grow into the sound of a wonderful instrument
Played by the mind and ear of the man born to do it.

He’s replaced the Kingston Trio now with Bobby McFarrin,
And the chorus warm-up is no longer Bach, it’s scat;
Maybe next we’ll hear him rapping on the radio, in Maine.
Most of all, here, we shall miss him.

Dear George, thank you for all the Revels years
Thank you for teaching our words to sing
For so long, for always.
Please never stop making music,
Dear musical man.

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In Memory of George Emlen

George Emlen1944 – 2026

With love to George, from Susan

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