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 served as guest principal with the New Haven Symphony, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and performed chamber music with members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
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. Appearances also include the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts broadcasted on WFMT Chicago radio and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. 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.