Emily Joy Sullivan (b. 1987) is a composer, educator, and choral director based in Northern California. Her music is animated by the spirit of song, dance, and storytelling, and is grounded in various vernacular traditions. Sullivan’s works have been performed in New York, Chicago, Memphis, Vancouver, Valencia, and Cape Town. She holds a master’s degree in music composition from SUNY Fredonia and a BA in music from Amherst College, where her feminist musicology thesis was “Envoicing Eve: Femmes Fatales in Carmen, Salome, and Lulu.” She is currently working on a musical theater project retelling fairy tales from the heroines’ points of view.

She was selected for the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). This unique mentoring opportunity for emerging and early-career art song composers aims to promote and encourage the composition and performance of new works.

Composers of vocal music, especially art song and opera, were encouraged to apply. NATS pairs each mentee composer with a mentor for approximately eight months (mid-October 2022 through June 1, 2023). The mentoring involves one-to-one online contact about once a month.

She was awarded an Honorable Mention from the International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWM)’s Annual Search for New Music. She received an Honorable Mention for the Libby Larsen prize for her piece (subito) for solo percussion. (subito) was premiered by Chris Froh in 2021 as part of the music department’s workshop in composing for percussion.