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Emma Kok’s stomach is paralyzed. Her food has to go straight through a small external tube into her stomach. She cannot eat. She has gastroparesis and has been dependent on a feeding tube since she was nine months old. She founded gastrostars.nl to improve the quality of life for children and adults with gastroparesis and to find a cure. Her dream of becoming a great singer has come true when she is not on the feeding tube.
Breakthrough
Emma’s breakthrough came in 2023 after her cover of the French song Voilà, which was part of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.
Emma Kok’s cover of Voilà
15 Year Old Emma Kok Sings Voilà – André Rieu, Maastricht 2023 (official video) Aug 3, 2023
Emma Kok’s Covers of Michael Jackson’s Earth Song and Heal The World
Facebook Emma-Kok & Andre-Rieu-Earth song or Tiktok
Video Credit: André Rieu live in Bahrain 2024 (Full Concert)
The Art of Emma Kok
Emma is paying close attention to every line and every word. Alternating little visits to her head voice for emotional effect in the middle of a conversational, breathy chest mix. She uses her head voice to make story points, alternating with her conversational and chest voice.
Analyses
She uses huge dynamics in tone, amplitude and timing to convey the story of the lyrics with a natural sound and correct pitch without pushing the notes.
When the pitch isn’t perfect, she can adjust it accordingly.
Emma Kok uses diverse voice modulation (control of pitch, tone, and volume) and dynamic range.
She uses a crescendo and diminuendo throughout, using her full natural voice to make emotional story points. In fact, her covers of Voilà and The Earth Song are actually one long crescendo.
While the original version of Voilà is playful but flat, André and Emma Kok’s version transforms it into an emotional piece with huge dynamics, drawing on classical conventions. At the same time, it mimics the original’s tempo changes.
Her style is a mix of voices, natural sung lows, i.e. not straining her voice, with great Crescendo and belting for key words from the lyrics.
She shifts from rapid phrases to moments that halt time entirely for dramatic impact, then modulates the music, building toward the song’s end.
Use of Modulation
Music modulation is the process of changing from one key (tonal center) to another within a piece of music, creating variety, building tension, and evoking emotion, often using pivot chords (common to both keys) for smooth transitions, but sometimes using abrupt shifts or chromatic alterations for dramatic effect. It’s a fundamental tool, especially in longer compositions, to give music structure, contrast, and a sense of journey.
The original song “Voilà” by Barbara Pravi, which Emma Kok covers, does not feature a modulation, that dramatic key change often found in pop ballads towards the end of the song.
She is able to articulate all the phonetics and sounds, playing with their timing and amplitude. In Voilà, she leads the song’s start, and André Rieux is a master at letting her do so and at synchronizing with her. Before the modulation, he silences the orchestra beautifully and lets her modulate with what seems to be a false note but is not. By silencing the soundtrack, they effectively bring the time to a standstill. This is a very effective preparation for the coming modulation that brings us to the end of the song.
Style
Her style is a mix of voices, natural sung lows, i.e. not straining her voice, with great Crescendo and belting for key words from the lyrics. Her performance supports the story telling in key elements.
