Emerald Rae is a musician, dancer and entrepreneur. Growing up in a musical family, she began performing and teaching fiddle and stepdancing in her early teens. She graduated high school at 16, won the US National Scottish Fiddle Championships at 18, released her first solo album at 19, and graduated from Berklee College of Music with a degree in Film Scoring at 20. After spending a year at the University of Glasgow studying early 18th century Scottish Fiddle, Emerald returned to Boston and recorded two albums with the Celtic Americana band Annalivia. “If Only I Could Fly”, her second solo album, was released in 2013 and showcases her songwriting and original compositions on fiddle, guitar and an ancient and little-known welsh fiddle called the “Crwth”.Emerald is an experienced and dedicated teacher. She has spent the last decade conducting lessons, classes, workshops and lectures in fiddle and dance and the two often go hand-in-hand at her classes and gigs. She started teaching fiddle at 15, and held a position as a fiddle teacher at Wellesley College while she was still in college herself. Six years teaching stepdancing in dance studios where ballet and hip-hip are the norm have honed her skills as a creative choreographer. Two years as the Music Director for the NH Strathspey & Reel Society, five years on the board of the Boston Celtic Music Festival and two self-produced solo albums have given her a wealth of knowledge on event management and production. TradLife.com, her newest project, is a website designed to make traditional music readily available and accessible to the public. Emerald has a strong vision for the future of traditional music and is passionate about creating infrastructure for independent trad musicians.