Born in Taiwan and raised in Florida, clarinetist Elisha Willinger leads a versatile career as a chamber musician, soloist, educator, and orchestral performer. His appearances have included performing with many ensembles such as the Detroit, Baltimore, North Carolina, Virginia, Richmond, Charleston, and New World symphonies. He has also appeared as principal with the New Haven Symphony and performed chamber music with members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Performances this season include the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts which will be broadcasted on WFMT Chicago radio.
A winner of competitions including the 2012 Yamaha Young Performing Artists competition, 2017 Yale Chamber Music Society, and 2019 International Clarinet Association’s orchestral competition, he has performed in the US, Europe, and Canada and was soloist with The Royal Conservatory Chamber Orchestra. In 2018 he made his debut at Carnegie Hall in Weill Recital Hall as part of the Yale in New York series. He has spent summers performing as a fellow with the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra, Sarasota, Norfolk, American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, among others.
An avid educator, Dr. Willinger joined as the Assistant Teaching Professor of Clarinet at Ball State University in the Fall of 2023. As part of the Willinger Duo ensemble with his brother, pianist Lior Willinger, he is committed to new music and commissioned works for clarinet and piano as they seek to expand the canon from composers of underrepresented backgrounds.
He holds graduate degrees from Yale University, University of Michigan, and The Royal Conservatory’s Glenn Gould School in Toronto. He earned his Bachelor of Music from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. His major teachers include David Shifrin, Joaquin Valdepeñas, Daniel Gilbert, Chad Burrow, and Ixi Chen.