High Resolution Photos by Kristi Jan Hoover

The World Is Loud. These Are the Quiet Anthems We Need. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

MARCH 23, 2026 

Folk Songwriter and Ethnomusicologist Emily Pinkerton Announces Solo Album 

“Quiet Anthems” Release & Listening Event to Held in Troy, New York April 18 

ALBANY, N.Y. — After years of leading acclaimed folk ensembles, composing chamber music, and teaching the next generation of musicians, Emily Pinkerton is stepping into the spotlight alone—and making the quietest, most powerful sound of her career. Her forthcoming album, Quiet Anthems, is a collection of deeply personal piano-driven songs about loss, silence, and the hard-won courage to speak again.

The album will be celebrated at an official release event at the Troy Listening Room in Troy, New York on April 18. The event will be held from 7 to 9 p.m., and also feature special guest, Ellen Atwood, a musician and indie-pop artist based in Troy, New York. 

A Return to the Piano, A Return to the Self

Pinkerton’s musical journey has taken her from old-time Appalachian harmonies to South American folk opera—winning national recognition and performing on NPR’s Mountain Stage along the way. But for this album, she set down her banjo and returned to an instrument she hadn’t performed on in years: the piano.

“As my life became crowded with challenges, I needed simplicity,” Pinkerton said. “Just me with the piano, trying to find a way for the storms inside to reach the surface.”

The result is five songs captured in a series of live takes—intimate, unguarded, and deliberately unhurried. The album is a refusal to rush meaning or perform healing. Its gentle delivery belies the giant feelings beneath.

“These Are Women’s Stories”

The songs on Quiet Anthems begin as a patchwork of personal experience and open into something larger—a cultural landscape where private truth echoes collective memory. “These are women’s stories—but they are also for anyone who has lost the ability to speak,” Pinkerton said. “Anyone whose voice has been softened, diminished, or denied.”

From the album’s standout track, “Not a Game”:

“It’s been so long

since we sat down together

I walk around, more than a bit off-center,

Too scared to make a sound

Worried my voice might fall right out and hit the ground”

Crafted with Community

True to Pinkerton’s ethos of community over spectacle, Quiet Anthems was lovingly co-produced with sound engineer/composer Sam Torres (Polymouth Mastering) and composer/pianist Sophia Vastek (Sova), who will host the release event. Visual art for the album’s song videos comes from longtime collaborator Joanne Wiggins, whose woven paper sculptures mirror the stark beauty of the album’s lyrics.

“I’m so, so happy with the warmth of the mixes,” Pinkerton said. “It’s right in tune with the lyrics, like an immersion in deep inner dialogue.”

About Emily Pinkerton

As a founding member of folk trio The Early Mays, Pinkerton has earned a #1 debut on the National Folk DJ Charts, performed on NPR’s Mountain Stage twice, won the International Acoustic Music Award for Best Group/Duo, and placed as a USA Songwriting Competition Finalist. As a composer, she has received grants from New York Council on the Arts and New Music USA, and her folk opera Looking for Violeta earned rave reviews at Pittsburgh’s Quantum Theatre. 

Emily Pinkerton holds a Ph.D. and a Master’s in Ethnomusicology from the University of Texas at Austin, and a B.A. in Music, Spanish, and French from Butler University. She served as Associate Professor of Music Industry (Songwriting & Composition) at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY, where she taught since 2018. When the campus officially closed in June 2024, she earned her NYS Teacher Certification and joined the ENL Department at Albany High School. Her work on South American folk music was published in Spanish this spring with support from the Chilean Culture, Arts and Heritage Council.

Note: 

Tickets are required to attend the April 18 event. Tickets are on a sliding scale fee, and all ages are welcome. 

The Troy Listening Room is located in the Osgood neighborhood of Troy,  New York (12180). The address will be sent in the ticket confirmation email. The venue is not ADA accessible and requires walking up two short flights of stairs. 

Ticket link: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/troylisteningroom/2086180

Questions about the venue: sspresents518@gmail.com

ATTENTION MEDIA – For review copies, interviews, or high-resolution press photos, contact: Emily Pinkerton via email at emily@emilypinkerton.com or mobile at (412) 999-3443. 

 

Press HIghlights

…banjo against a vibrant backdrop of pulsing rhythms and chamber colour…the dream-like reverie mesmerizes in the way banjo picking blends with a rich and ever-coursing swirl of woodwinds and piano.

—textura

…unites the traditional and the modern in stunning, beautiful fashion.

 --Andy Jurik, Pop Matters

I first encountered Pinkerton as part of the marvelous trio The Early Mays and was struck by what she brought to that Appalachian string band, a kind of New England classicism that lent an incorporeal feel to the otherwise traditional sound.

…I hear a Copland-like yearning, and she describes it as being '21st century post-minimalist classical music and North American old-time.' Whatever you call it, it’s also timeless.

—Amos Perrine, NO DEPRESSION

The best of two cultures and songwriting styles …Pinkerton's songs employ earthy metaphors that reflect her spiritual and emotional world.  

--NUVO, Indianapolis, IN

It's hard not to be enchanted with Emily Pinkerton's music…

--Cleveland Scene, Cleveland, OH

… an understated passion that accents the desperate emotion of unrequited love.

 --Sing Out!

Career highlights

  • New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) Artist Grant, 2024 | Ephemera Ballads

  • New Music USA Creator Fund, 2023 | Ephemera Ballads

  • USA Songwriting Competition Finalist | Folk/Acoustic Category, 2023

  • IAMA Best Duo/Group | The Early Mays, 2023

  • NPR’s Mountain Stage | The Early Mays, 2022

  • Independent Music Award Winner | Rounder Songs, Eclectic EP, 2019

  • Associate Professor of Music Industry (Songwriting/Composition), The College of Saint Rose Music (2018-2025)

  • The Heinz Endowments | Pittsburgh Foundation Creative Development Grant for composition, performance of Rounder Songs

  • NewMusic USA Award for composition of "Three Forks of Hell"

  • Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour, Roster Artist

  • Appalachian String Band Music Festival, 1st place in Neo-Traditional Band Competition, 3rd place in Flatfoot Dance competition

  • West Virginia State Folk Music Festival, 3rd place in Fiddle Competition

  • Uncle Dave Macon Festival, 3rd place in Fiddle Competition

  • Official Showcases at NERFA, SERFA and FARM Conferences

  • Chilean-American Fulbright Association and the Organization of American States Grants for study of Chilean Canto a lo Poeta

Sound and Tech

Contact Emily for stage plots and tech for...

  • Solo Concerts

  • Ephemera Ballads + Rounder Songs

Selection of past venues

WXXI Live from Hochstein, Troy Listening Room, Song City, Mountain Stage, National Sawdust, TUTTI Festival and Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concert Series with NOW Ensemble; NPR's Mountain Stage, Appalachian String Band Music Festival, HOTA Fest and Fiddle and Bow Society with The Early Mays; Merkin Hall with Eddy Marcano, SongSpace, Acoustic Music Works