Michael Emery studied music at Oxford University (where he was organ scholar of Merton College) and at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester (where he was organ scholar of Manchester Cathedral).
In 1989 he joined BBC Radio 3 as a producer, and in 1992 was appointed Senior Producer for the BBC Singers, producing many live and recorded broadcasts with them, including over 20 CD recordings and creating a learning and outreach programme which continues to this day.
In 2015 he was invited to become Artistic Director of the DR Vokal Ensemblet and DR Koncert Kor, the two professional choirs of DR, Denmark's national broadcaster, in Copenhagen. Over the next decade he took the Vokal Ensemblet on tours to America, China, the UK, and other European countries, programming their many varied broadcasts and performing activities in Denmark and abroad. Alongside them he established a wide-ranging portfolio of education work for both amateur choir singers and conservatoire-level student conductors, singers and composers.
He retired from his DR post in June 2025.