Meet Emily Marshall: Conductor and Music Director for ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender in Concert'

The RiverCenter for the Performing Arts will open its 2024-25 Season next week on August 16 with a performance of Avatar: The Last Airbender in Concert. The production is an international tour start-up, which means the Columbus audience will be the first to see the show live in the United States.

Tour start-ups bring their cast and crew (or in this case, their production staff and musicians) to Columbus to rehearse and finalize the last details on a show before launching into their tour schedule. Each tour start-up brings an estimated $750,000-$1.5 million in economic impact to the city.

Avatar: The Last Airbender in Concert presents favorite scenes from the popular animated series on screen while an orchestra performs the score live in concert. To get a better understanding of the production's unique format and what makes it so special, we spoke with Emily Marshall, the show's Music Director and Conductor. Read on to discover Marshall's interesting background, how it led her to conducting for an international tour, and why Avatar: The Last Airbender in Concert is something audience members of all ages should see.

Emily Marshall, Music Director and Conductor for 'Avatar: The Last Airbender in Concert.' Image courtesy of the production.

Q: Emily, you have led a fascinating career. What are some of the key experiences that have led you to such a unique role like music directing for Avatar: The Last Airbender in Concert?

A: Well, I feel like there's so many different paths to go down in the music industry, right? People aren't always aware of all the different careers that are available. I mean, I wasn't aware myself. I first went to college studying to do audio production because I was interested in the technical aspects of the recording studio. But then, I changed into classical performance because I had studied classically all throughout middle school and high school. I had done classical piano competitions and all of that, but I didn't want to make a career out of being a soloist. I knew that wasn't what I wanted.

While I was in college, someone asked me if I wanted to music direct for a musical theater show, and I didn't know what that meant, but I knew I liked the words music and directing. I had played piano for the musical theater productions in my high school, and typically, in most high schools there is not a music director. It's the orchestra teacher who is doing a million things on the show at once, so your job as the accompanist is to keep up and keep the show moving. I loved it in high school, so I got into music directing in college because it was such a combination of a lot of different skills I had. You know, I had classical music training and I had also played for some choreography rehearsals, so I understood that part of the language, too. It just worked, and I really fell in love with music directing.

Photo by: Zdenko Hanout. Courtesy of the production.

Another one of the things that drew me to music directing was being a part of the creative conversations. Instead of just being a hired musician who comes comes in and plays what's in front of you, the music director is in the discussions with the director throughout the entire process. You're in the room seeing the artistic vision and working collaboratively to make it happen. I really enjoy that aspect as well. So, that's kind of what led to my resume going in all different sorts of directions.

Music directing for shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender in Concert, pulls from so many elements I've been able to hone in on from my training and skills from various arenas. It's pretty much like watching a film score being produced live.

Q: It really is incredible.

A: It's cool, isn't it? There are lots of technical elements of it, too. Everyone in the orchestra has to be on a click, a metronome track, so that we can line everything up with what is happening on screen. It's really cool, and then there will be things that go wrong sometimes, but I have to figure out and troubleshoot the ways to make sure the orchestra all stays together so we are matching the music to what's happening on the screen the whole time.

Q: That's fascinating.

A: It really is a new sort of media experience, but also is similar to when people would go see the first silent movies with a pianist playing along. It's kind of an homage to that.

Photo by: Zdenko Hanout. Courtesy of the production.

Q: How do you feel productions like this one are helping to increase accessibility the arts for young people?

A: Yeah, I mean, I think that there's a stigma about going to an orchestra concert. Like, it's not cool or exciting. Sometimes people assume it's going to be boring. But these films in concert are anything but boring when you see then live. With these types of shows, there is the audio, but there's also the visual. It's incredible for young people to be able to see this visual anime they've grown up with – but the music is being performed live with a conductor and instruments, some of which you've never seen before.

Q: What instruments in Avatar: The Last Airbender might be new for the audience?

A: In addition to some of the more common orchestral instruments, there are also all of these traditional asian flutes that are being used in the show – ones I had never seen played live before we started rehearsals. There are also multiple percussionists with timpani and big drums that you get to watch perform, too.

Young people who come to see Avatar: The Last Airbender in Concert will get to watch an orchestra performing while they're watching the show. It's very immersive. I think that all of those elements together really can give the younger generation a different feel for what going to an orchestral concert can be. I've seen that, too. When I was doing Spiderman into the Spiderverse last season, there were so many people who said after that show, something like "Well, I don't want to watch the movie just by itself now. I'd rather watch it with an orchestra being played with it!" That's exactly what we're going for.

Q: Wonderful. Is there anything in particular that you would like our local audience to know about the musicians in your orchestra?

A: Sure. So, this group of musicians has been formed just for this production, and this is the first time we're all coming together. Columbus is actually our inaugural performance at the beginning of the U.S. portion of a world tour we're doing over the next five months.

The musicians are coming from all over the country and from different elements within the industry. Some of them are coming from the education world, some of them are coming from the performing world, some of them are coming from the recording studio world and we also have four vocalists.

Q: There are vocalists, too?

A: Yes. They are doing a bunch of the sound effects. They were more of a last minute addition, but are adding some really great elements to the production.

In total, it's a 14 piece orchestra with four vocalists. With this production particularly, the music is just so cool. Jeremy Zuckerman has written such beautiful stuff. There's so much of it that just creates this soundscape that's unlike any other orchestra you're going to hear. It might not be the biggest orchestra that you've ever heard, but you're going to hear a lot of different sounds you've never experienced before.

We're able to highlight the soloists in a specific way to give you that Avatar sound. This group we found is extremely talented, and I'm really excited this production is bringing all these people together. It's a very neat opportunity for your audience in Columbus to see the first U.S. performance of this tour. I hope everyone will come out and see it! There really is not a dull moment in this show. We play all the way through without stopping. There's no break in the music.

Q: Is there anything else you'd like to share with our audience before the premiere?

A: All I'll say is just don't leave when you think the show is over because there might be a bit of an encore!