MUSICIAN OF THE MONTH: EILEEN WALSH
We can’t wait for you to meet our July Musician of the Month, Halifax’s own Eileen Walsh!
Clarinetist Eileen Walsh has held the position of Second Clarinet and Bass Clarinet with Symphony Nova Scotia since October 2007. Formerly the Associate Principal and E-flat Clarinet with the South Bend Symphony, Eileen earned her Master of Music degree and Performer Diploma from Indiana University in the studio of Eli Eban, and her Bachelor’s Degree at the University of British Columbia in the studio of Wesley Foster.
Eileen’s love of chamber music has led to the co-founding of the Fifth Wind Woodwind quintet and the Jollimore Trio, and most recently to her joining Rhapsody Quintet. Eileen is currently on faculty at Dalhousie and Acadia Universities, and she lives in Halifax with her husband, flutist Jack Chen, and their two young boys. Other pursuits include performing on period instruments, and a two-year term as Associate Instructor of Music Theory at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
1.What is your idea of perfect happiness? My whole family crammed into the hammock in our yard!
2. Which living musician do you most admire and why? My husband, flutist Jack Chen. I admire his passion for performing and connecting with his audience, his constant curiosity, his desire to push his limits with every performance, and of course his tone… ❤❤❤
3. What do you consider your greatest achievement? The mother in me reacts first to this one (those boys so smart, funny, handsome and curious… how did they manage??) but back to music… I often look to my students to see my greatest musical achievements, and also to my audience. I had some very rewarding performances this spring, and the kind words and emotional reactions of my audience and colleagues help me believe that what I do can touch others in special ways.
4. If you weren’t a musician, what would you like to do, all things being possible? I can’t really imagine another career, but I would seriously consider spending more time with my children. I actually plan to delve back into the world of figure skating at some point, as a choreographer, because I find that the music doesn’t always get enough consideration. I hate to see a musical high point go to waste, and then see a quad executed to near silence! Or I’d just release my inner child and design for LEGO…
5. Where would you most like to live? I tell people every day how happy and lucky we are to call Halifax our home. If we could travel endlessly, I would love to be able to explore all the corners and cultures of the world. A part of me would always love to be closer to our families in Vancouver, but we are lucky to be able to visit each other frequently these days.
6. Which language do you wish you could speak? Mandarin Chinese. Again and again! I am fairly “tone-deaf” in Chinese, and I am amazed at how naturally it comes to our children. They will have a great gift and tool if they can keep it up!
7. Do you have a favourite work for the clarinet? I was going to say no, but the works for clarinet Mozart and Brahms rise to the top of the pyramid over and over again!
8. What are your plans for the summer? Acadia Band Camp starts next week (come one, come all!) and then I have a complex schedule of chamber events and traveling to keep the family together as much as possible through this season when work carries us farther afield.
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- Walsh (L) with Fifth Wind woodwind quintet.
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- Walsh has been with SNS since 2007.
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- Walsh (R) with Halifax’s Rhapsody Quintet.
You can keep up with Eileen’s work with Fifth Wind through their Facebook page, with Rhapsody Quintet via their website, and with Symphony Nova Scotia through their site.