About

As part of our Cookie Concert series, come experience the joy and energy of Eileen and Jeff performing duets for two bass clarinets. Eileen has been performing on bass clarinet and clarinet with Symphony Nova Scotia and in festivals and chamber series across the Maritimes since 2007, and Jeff has been celebrated as a world-class bass clarinetist, composer and producer internationally. Their collective experience spans many styles, places and decades, and their musical friendship in Halifax has developed through fascinating projects from bass clarinet quartets to hip hop opera!

About the Artists

Eileen Walsh

Eileen Walsh has dedicated herself to commissioning premiering new works from Canadian composers. She was recently nominated for a JUNO award as part of Suzie Leblanc’s album ‘mouvance,’ and her most recent commission, from award-winning composer and flutist Derek Charke, was premiered at the 2023 Low Clarinet Festival. Eileen’s next collaborations will be with Amy Brandon and India Yeshe Gailey, two acclaimed Canadian composers with a broad scope of artistic practice and influences.

Eileen Walsh has held the position of Second and Bass Clarinet with Symphony Nova Scotia since 2007, and appears regularly in concert series and festivals around the Maritimes. She can be heard on recordings by Symphony Nova Scotia, Derek Charke/Acadia University, and Suzie LeBlanc.

Eileen earned her M.Mus and Performer Diploma from Indiana University, and her B.Mus from the University of British Columbia. She is on faculty at Acadia and Dalhousie Universities in Nova Scotia.

Jeff Reilly

Jeff Reilly leads a multifaceted life as a bass clarinettist, composer, conductor, and producer. A twice Juno-nominated bass clarinetist as well as a composer, conductor, improviser, and producer, Jeff has appeared a soloist with the Elora Singers, Symphony Nova Scotia, the Winnipeg New Music Festival, Elmer Iseler Singers, the Canadian Chamber Choir, Calgary’s Luminous Voices, Ottawa’s 13 Strings and across Canada, USA, Europe and Asia in the groundbreaking trio Sanctuary. His approach to music blurs any simple distinctions between improvisation and composition, and he strives to do it with such integrity that we are reminded that these distinctions are moot.

Jeff has recorded and performed with Jerry Granelli, Ben Caplan, Barry Guy, Maya Homburger, John Potter, Peter Togni, Suzie Leblanc, India Gailey and Tom Allen. He is active in many musical projects including the Blackwood Duo, New Hermitage, Upstream Music and with James Shaw’s Vesuvius Big Band.