Talented Galwegian Simon takes to stage of home city with Irish Youth Wind Ensemble
Clarinettist Simon Carey from Knocknacarra in Galway City will be on stage in the city's St Nicholas's Collegiate Church this Saturday, August 1, at 7pm, performing in a concert, From Skylines to Shadows with the Irish Youth Wind Ensemble (IWE).
The following day, the 78-strong orchestra will be in Dublin, playing at the Great Hall of the Irish Museum of Modern Art.
For 21-year-old old Simon, who has multiple awards to his name and is studying at the Royal Irish College of Music, it all began with tin whistle in Gaelscoil Mhic Amhlaigh. That was his first instrument.
"The clarinet is very similar to the tin whistle," says the talented player who has been rehearsing with the IWE at the University of Limerick in preparation for these shows in Galway and Dublin.
"The shape is quite similar and the middle register of the clarinet uses similar fingers to the whistle, so it helped when I started learning."
His first exposure to the instrument that is so beloved of jazz musicians was at home, via his father and grandfather, fans of musicians like Benny Goodman.
Once Simon began playing it, he was hooked and realised this was what he wanted to do with his life.
"I love making music," he says simply. He has done just that with many groups, including the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland, the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) Symphony Orchestra, the Galway Youth Orchestra and Symphonic Waves Youth Orchestra.
He took clarinet lessons with Annemarie Duggan here in Galway and began studying with Fintan Sutton in RIAM in 2021. In that year too, he won the gold medal and the McCullough Rosebowl in the Feis Ceoil Junior Clarinet (A) competition. In 2022, Simon won silver in the Feis Ceoil Senior Woodwind competition, taking gold in 2024. He took part in the RIAM Young Artists Programme in 2022 and 2023 and, through the RIAM, represented Ireland at the Lyons European Music Competition in Bordeaux, in October 2024.
Just this year, Simon received the Foundation Scholarship for Music in Trinity College.
"Awards and bursaries are good for getting your name out there," he says, and the money helps too, including with buying instruments.
Having performed with many orchestras through the years, and "having had wonderful opportunities to make music in Galway", Simon's first performance with the Irish Wind Orchestra was in 2022.
"And I've loved it ever since," he says of the annual experience that involves getting sheet music for the pieces they are performing, practising them and then rehearsing for two weeks with fellow members before presenting "such a varied programme".
The two-week rehearsal period in UL is a tradition of the Irish Youth Wind Ensemble, bringing together young wind, brass and percussion players to work with some of Ireland's leading instrumental tutors.
For Simon, having a variety of teachers “gives you a different perspective and you realise what suits you”.
Following the rehearsals, the Artistic Director of the Irish Youth Wind Ensemble, Ronan O'Reilly says audiences in Galway and Dublin can expect "an extraordinary musical journey – from the energy and excitement of Philip Sparke’s A Weekend in New York to the haunting imagination of John Mackey’s Haunted Objects and the symphonic brilliance of Johan de Meij’s Extreme Beethoven".
Other composers will include Nelson Jesus, Franco Cesarini and Nigel Hess in a programme that will range from “dazzling virtuosity and cinematic grandeur to moments of profound reflection and lyrical beauty”.
Some pieces will be receiving their Irish premieres, offering audiences an opportunity to experience exciting new additions to the wind ensemble repertoire.
As a member of the group, Simon is joining a tradition going back more than 40 years, and there's no doubting how much he loves the experience.
He's back in Galway City later in August, playing with the locally based Esker Festival Orchestra and that's something he's also looking forward to.
And, while the clarinet is now Simon's professional instrument, he still plays tin whistle.
“I will always have a special place in my heart for the tin whistle,” he says, recalling the lessons he took with renowned performer and teacher Mary Begin.
Living in Dublin during the week, he's usually back at home every weekend and while he's the only musician in his family, “I'm from a house full of music lovers”.
Tickets for From Skylines to Shadows are €20 / €10 concession (+booking fee) from IYWE.IE and on the door.