Kilkenny clarinettist Léonie Bluett has won an exclusive place performing alongside the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra at the National Concert Hall.
One of nine young instrumentalists from across the country, Léonie was selected to perform with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra under principal conductor Alan Buribayev at the National Concert Hall as part of the orchestra’s newly developed mentoring scheme for advanced young musicians on Friday night last, November 12.
The RTÉ NSO 2010 mentoring scheme followed on from pilot schemes developed with the Royal Irish Academy of Music in 2008 and 2009. It aimed to reach out to advanced instrumental students at third level colleges in Dublin, Cork, Waterford, and Belfast offering them the opportunity to perform with Ireland’s only professional symphony orchestra and with musicians of international stature.
Léonie’s clarinet studies started at the Kilkenny School of Music and she is now in her final year of a BA in music performance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. She is a multiple prize winner at the Feis Ceoil, Dublin, the RIAM Music Festival, and the Kilkenny Music Festival, with competition wins including the Contemporary Cup in 2009 and the McCullough Cup for Woodwind Concerto in 2008.
She has played principal clarinet with the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland for three years and played with the RIAM Symphony Orchestra and pianist John O’Conor on a 2009 American tour which included a concert in Carnegie Hall.
Léonie enjoys playing in chamber ensembles as well as solo performing, and took part in the International Summer Academy for Chamber Music in Frenswegen, Germany, in summer 2009 and 2010. She has also participated in masterclasses with renowned clarinettists such as Eddy Vanoosthuyse, Robert Spring, and Fabio Di Casola.
“The experience of playing with a professional orchestra, getting feedback from the RTÉ NSO musicians and going through the comprehensive audition process was hugely valuable,” Léonie said of the mentoring scheme.
In December she will take part in the International Clarinet Competition Marco Fiorindo in Italy, and next year hopes to continue her studies with a master’s in clarinet in Germany or Switzerland. In May 2011, she will perform the Copland Clarinet Concerto with the RIAM Symphony Orchestra in the National Concert Hall.
