Distinguished clarinettist and composer Emma Johnson formed the Orchestra for the Environment to highlight not only the wonders of nature but the danger of ignoring the dangers of climate change.

Now Emma brings the orchestra, whose members are all virtuoso players, to G-Live in Guildford on Saturday 7June (7.30pm) as part of a UK tour.

It was during lockdown that Emma composed a clarinet concerto which she called The Tree of Life to express musically her feelings and beliefs about the climate crisis.

The concerto was premiered in the Kent village of Lamberhurst with a hand-picked team of like-minded musicians, which has led to this tour.

Not only will they perform The Tree of Life but other pieces that take their cue from nature, including classics by Mozart and Tchaikovsky as well as Puccini’s touching masterpiece Chrysanthemums, Holst’s Brook Green Suite, Gershwin’s delightful Walking the Dog and Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Greensleeves.

Emma is one of the few clarinettists to have established a career as a solo performer after winning the BBC Young Musician of the Year at the age of 17. She has made some 30 recordings including her widely streamed recent album English Fantasy with the BBC Concert Orchestra.

Other chart-topping successes include Voyage and The Mozart Album on the Universal label and her CD of Brahms sonatas with pianist John Linehan, which was described as “definitive” in The Observer.

In addition she has recorded concertos by Charles Villiers Stanford and Gerald Finzi, which was nominated for a Gramophone Award.

She is also a highly regarded composer with many compositions such as Songs of Celebration for clarinet and choir.

In 2020 she was awarded the Cobbett Medal for services to chamber music by the Musicians’ Company Guild in the City of London. She is frequently broadcast on both Radio and Television and was appointed MBE in 1996.