Emmanuelle Fonsny was born in Liège, Belgium. She started piano at the age of 5 and violin a year later. At 14, she moved to Sydney with her family and has been living there since. She did a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Japanese, majoring in composition with Anne Boyd and Matthew Hindson. She then completed a composition portfolio and a thesis on Japanese contemporary music.

She then went on to study more Japanese at NSW University then finished her studies with a Masters in Translation and Interpreting at Macquarie University.

She now teaches violin, piano and French to people of all ages and works as a professional translator. She still regularly composes in her spare time.