Emma Rush Photo Credit Sandra Mulder
Acclaimed classical guitarist Emma Rush, widely regarded as one of Canada's premier classical guitarists (Vivascene Magazine), returns with her new EP 'Home Sweet Home,' available now on 7" vinyl and through Bandcamp. The Hamilton-based virtuoso has built a remarkable career bringing forgotten music to light, and this release continues that mission with warmth, curiosity, and a deep sense of place. Recorded on a historic instrument and paired with a trio of striking videos, the project finds Rush at her most personal and inviting.
The EP draws entirely on the music of Catharina Pratten, a towering figure of 19th-century guitar whose accomplishments stretched across most of the century. Pratten was a virtuosic performer, a prolific composer, and the most celebrated guitar teacher in Victorian England. "Catharina Pratten was such a huge figure in 19th century guitar but she’s been largely overlooked," Rush says. "Her music is passionate and colourful, and incredibly expressive." Rush has spent years immersed in Pratten's catalogue, and two of the tunes here mark their first-ever recordings, a responsibility she relishes with every interpretation.
'Home Sweet Home' follows Rush's celebrated 2025 album 'The Life and Times of Catharina Pratten,' the first-ever album dedicated to the composer and a CBC In Concert Record of the Week. That release brought Pratten's music into public view through extensive library research and rare archival discoveries, featuring several previously unrecorded works performed on historically significant guitars linked to the composer. The new EP extends that deep dive, carrying Rush's advocacy for Pratten into fresh territory with an even more intimate, place-rooted lens.
The collection began as a video project grounded in Rush's hometown. "I feel like coming from Hamilton has really influenced me as a musician and I wanted to find a way to connect that sense of place with what I do," she shares. "I loved the idea of playing this beautiful Victorian music on a historic guitar and pairing it with some of Hamilton's most stunning Victorian buildings." She filmed the title track at Dundurn Castle, a celebrated Hamilton landmark she loved to visit as a child, lending the project a personal resonance that runs deep.
At the heart of the EP sits an instrument with its own extraordinary story. Rush recorded the music on an 1859 Pratten model guitar built by Boosey and Sons, complete with Pratten's signature inside and the date and serial number in her own hand. "It's like playing a time machine," Rush says. The pairing of composer and instrument gives the recording a rare authenticity, connecting listener and performer directly to the world Pratten inhabited.
The song selection carries its own intimate logic. "Treue liebe" (True Love) is one of the dreamy, romantic pieces Pratten wrote so beautifully, while "Valse Espagnole" brings a lively, dancing spirit to the set. The title track held special meaning for Rush. "Home Sweet Home was the perfect tune," she explains. "Not only did the title fit the concept of the project, but it's based on a song my grandparents used to sing." That thread of family and memory gives the EP its tender, homespun heart.
"Treue liebe" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbowubgOM8M&list=RDJbowubgOM8M&start_radio=1
"Valse Espagnole" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOLZob7PbiQ
Rush filmed the accompanying videos across Hamilton's architectural gems, including the Workers Arts Heritage Centre in the former Customs House and the Pring House, the city's backpackers' hostel with its remarkable three-storey staircase. Her choice to release the music on vinyl, with downloads and streaming available through Bandcamp, reflects a thoughtful commitment to her craft and her listeners. "I've had loads of requests for vinyl and I'm constantly buying new records myself," she says. "When I realized the tunes for this project would fit on a 7" record I didn't think twice."
Rush's international reputation continues to flourish. Her touring highlights include the Altamira Shanghai International Guitar Festival in China, the Festival de Guitarras Lagos de Moreno in Mexico, Future Echoes Festival in Sweden, and a cross-country tour aboard The Canadian. A 2026 recipient of a Chalmers Fellowship and a three-time City of Hamilton Arts Award winner, she completed graduate studies at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold in Germany and holds a Bachelor of Music from Dalhousie University. A sought-after lecturer and festival director, Rush serves as Co-Director of GuitarFest West in Calgary, Director of Hamilton Guitar Day in Ontario and the Nelson Guitar Festival in British Columbia and collaborates with the Wakefield Guitar Festival in Quebec.
With 'Home Sweet Home,' Rush extends her ongoing work of recovering hidden voices and sharing them with new audiences. The EP, produced and engineered by Kirk Starkey, stands as a heartfelt celebration of a composer whose music deserves to be heard, performed by an artist with the dedication and brilliance to bring it fully alive.
"Home Sweet Home"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHWS-1wFFLc&list=RDMHWS-1wFFLc&start_ra…
Tour Dates:
July 23: Guitarnival, St. John's NL
July 30: Iserlohn Guitar Symposium, Germany
August 11: GuitarFest West, Calgary
https://emmarush.bandcamp.com/