Emma Kingsbury has designed extensively for ballet, opera, film, television and theatre, and is currently working with Teatro alla Scala (La Scala- Milan) costume designing The Ring Cycle with Director, Sir David McVicar.
Emma costume designed Blacklight starring Liam Neeson and directed by Mark Williams (Ozark). In the Summer of 2021, Emma designed for HBO the unscripted TV Series, Finding Magic Mike premiering in December on HBO.
For San Francisco Ballet from 2020-23, Emma has designed for choreographers Dani Rowe, Helgi Tomasson and Yuka Oishi.
In the world of live performance, Emma designed sets and costumes for the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s new production of Cinderella, 2022 with Choreographer Loughlan Prior and Composer Claire Cowan-Pollard. In February 2020, Emma designed sets and costumes for The Firebird, with Choreographer Ma Cong for Texas Ballet and revived at Richmond Ballet in 2023. She designed both Set and Costumes for The Crucible for Scottish Ballet, winning the 2019 UK Theatre Award for Dance and touring to London & North America in 2023. In Europe, Emma has designed for the Hessisches Staatsballett, Wiesbaden and København Danser, Copenhagen.
Emma has designed for a number of American ballet companies including Pacific Northwest Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Richmond Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Smuin Ballet, BalletX and Texas Ballet Theater.
A frequent designer for the L.A Philharmonic in Los Angeles, Emma has designed five productions for them in 2018/2019, including artist Ragnar Kjartansson’s concept opera Bliss, Costume Designer for Atlas: An Opera in Three Parts composed by Meredith Monk, and John Cage’s Europeras 1&2 at Sony Picture Studios. The latter two operas were directed by the visionary Yuval Sharon.
For Opera Australia in 2019, Emma designed the opera The Ghost Sonata directed by Greg Eldridge. Other operas include Salieri’s Der Rauchfangkehrer for Pinchgut Opera and Ich Habe Genug for Sydney Chamber Opera.
Other work includes costume designer for Andy X: The Movie directed by Jim Sharman, Atomic: The Musical by Sydney/ New York productions, and The Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe touring Australia/U.K. Emma’s theatre design includes The Tempest, Oedipus Rex, The Winter’s Tale and The House of Bernarda Alba.
Emma’s film credits include The Wolverine (2013), God’s Of Egypt (2016), Truth (2015), Fool’s Paradise (2019), Dreamworks/Global Creatures How To Train Your Dragon, Childhood’s End (2016), Top of the Lake: China Girl (2017) and Legendary Entertainment’s Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018). Emma was costume designer for various productions created by the legendary Australian Artist/Sculptor Ken Unsworth and the Australian Dance Artists. Emma works as an illustrator and costume designer for RWS Global, creating shows such as the WB 100th Celebration for Warner Bros in Abu Dhabi.
Emma Kingsbury trained at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney, Australia where she earned her second bachelor’s degree in Design. Emma also holds a Bachelor of Creative Arts from The University of Melbourne. Emma is a proud member of the Costume Designers Guild-CDG Local 892, and is based in Northern California.
See more of Emma’s work at www.emmakingsbury.com
