Hi. I’m Erin!
My love of music started at a very young age and has continued ever since. I grew up in rural North Carolina, and music was always around our home. One summer, I was bored, so I picked up my dad’s clarinet from high school, and I couldn’t put it down! My life as a clarinetist afforded me many opportunities, including having lived in the Netherlands for two years, as well as the UK for over two years - which has greatly shaped me as a musician (and as a person!) and the way I not only teach, but view and approach music-making and teaching. I strive to be more than a clarinet player, but a MUSICIAN, and work towards that goal with my students.
My international appearances have included appearing as soloist with the Asko Ensemble in a memorial concert of Stockhausen’s Micheals Reise, and with the Holland Symfonia. Stateside, I have appeared with the New World Symphony, Charleston Symphony, and in Spoleto Festival USA, along many local Boston and New England orchestras and ensembles such as the Boston Philharmonic. I was a Fellow with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for two summers at Tanglewood, and had the privilege of playing under conductors such as Kurt Masur, Seiji Ozawa, Christoph von Dohnanyi, and Oliver Knussen.
I received my Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, studying under Robert Listokin (student of Daniel Bonade), and Dan McKelway, Assistant Principal Clarinet and E-flat Clarinet of the Cleveland Orchestra. I received my Master of Music degree with honors from the New England Conservatory studying under Thomas Martin, Associate Principal Clarinet and E-Flat Clarinet of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Abroad, I earned my Artist Diploma with honors from the Royal Conservatory of the Netherlands in Den Haag, studying under Sjef Douwes, Principal Clarinet of the Rotterdam Philharmonic.
What People Have Said
“…played with fervency, zeal, and great ability…a full-toned, warm, soft clarinet sound.”
— Freies Wort, Thueringen, Germany
“Erin Simmons’ playing revealed polish, personality, and a knack for uncovering the music’s delightfully capricious qualities. Staccato sections sputtered out with verve, note-clogged runs whizzed by effortlessly.”
— Winston-Salem Journal
“The clarinet had a rounded and soft depth of tone, demonstrating a leadership of the ensemble.”
— Meininger Tageblatt, Germany
“With seasoned confidence, precision and vitality…negotiated the fiendishly difficult rhythmic complexities.”
— Winston-Salem Journal
“Also marvelous was Blaauw’s seduction dance with ‘Eva’, basset horn player Erin Simmons.”
— Parool, Amsterdam, Netherlands
“Eva on basset horn, also excellently performed by Erin Simmons.”
— Trouw, Netherlands
“Erin Simmons on basset horn…in the important role of ‘Eva’. Convincing was the almost animal-like mating ritual with which she was calling ‘Michael’…all of this was very effective.”
— NRC Handelsblad, Netherlands
