Emma McDermott, a native of California, has been described as a "spectacular prima donna" by BelCanto.ru, as having a "big voice that carried easily over the orchestra" by the Washington Post, and as having a "great talent as an actress... with intense emotional participation". She  has a full-time position in the opera chorus in Theater Kiel. As a soloist she performs a range of solo roles from contralto such as Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Theater Vorpommern, Germany, to dramatic mezzo soprano such as Azucena in Il Trovatore with Spazio Musica in Orvieto, Italy, and high mezzo roles such as Venus in Orpheus in der Unterwelt at Theater Bremen and Suora infermiera at Theater Kiel.

McDermott began her career as a soprano, singing the dramatic roles of Tosca, Aida, Sieglinde and Cio-cio-san, before switching to the mezzo-soprano, contralto and zwischenfach repertoire. She has won various awards in the repertoire of Wagner, including a Bayreuth Stipendium from the Berlin-Brandenburg Wagner Society, the Audience Choice Award and 3rd Place at the Elizabeth Connell Prize for Dramatic Sopranos in Sydney, Australia, and young artist award from the Wagner Society of New York. 

McDermott was a young artist at the Georg Solti Accademia di Bel Canto in 2017, was a guest student and English diction coach at the young artist program of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia during the 2013/14 season. She received her master's degree in piano and vocal performance from George Mason University in 2013, and a professional studies certificate in opera from Manhattan School of Music in 2016.