Irish Lives: Oboist Aisling Casey ups the ante for St Patrick’s Eve Festival

Aisling Casey grew up in a house alive with music. But it wasn't until the age of 20, when she won a place to study in Germany with one of Europe's leading exponents of the oboe, that she realised she had the potential to carve out a career on the international stage.

Since then, a dogged pursuit of perfection has seen her play and record with violin virtuoso Nigel Kennedy, become principal oboe with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, and co-found the St Patrick's Eve music festival in Amsterdam, in an innovative new venue she helped to create.

Casey acknowledges a streak of perfectionism. Not just talent but hard work, she’d be the first to agree, are what’s brought her to where she is.

“Graduating in music from UCC, I was determined to study abroad. First I focused on romantic Vienna, which wouldn’t have been a good idea because the oboe is regarded there as a very ‘male’ instrument. Next it was the bright lights of London. Then, luckily, I settled on Hannover . . .”

The attraction in Hannover was a "guru" of the oboe, Klaus Becker, principal oboist with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra who'd recently turned to teaching. With only 12 places in his class, she applied, auditioned, was instantly successful – and suddenly recognised her shortcomings.

Culture shock

“I’d wanted culture shock, and I got it. I’d never been away from home, yet here I was living in Germany. I’d studied German at school, but had no idea of musical terminology in German and had to borrow a book from my one friend in Hannover – a Scottish bassoonist – and swot like crazy,” she said.

“To make matters worse, all the other students had been making their own oboe reeds from the age of 14 or 15 whereas I’d never made a single one and had to borrow a book about that too. Most intimidating of all, it turned out I was the only foreigner in the entire oboe class.”

That was 1993 and Casey thrived on the challenge. “By then I’d learned to take music seriously. I remember when I was 15 or 16 my parents gave me a wooden oboe, which I knew would have been quite expensive. I realised they’d invested in me and my music, so I wanted to do my best.”

It wasn’t her only career-defining gift from her parents, Bernard and Pat.

“My dad was a teacher at Cork School of Music and he was first to notice I could blow well. I tried the clarinet but the stupid thing kept squeaking – a message that my small hands would be more suited to the oboe. So I changed.”

As Casey’s professional life took off, so did her personal life. On a trip from Hannover to Luxembourg to play with the European Union Youth Orchestra she met her husband-to-be, the talented Dutch double bass player Wilmar de Visser, with whom she has a nine-year-old daughter, Sinéad.

That relationship led her to Amsterdam, where at just 24 she was appointed co-principal of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra.

Massive budget cuts in the Dutch arts world two years ago led to the merging of a number of the orchestras. “I was one of the lucky ones to keep my job – with the result that Wilmar and I now play together in the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.”

Festival

This weekend, Casey’s focus is on the St Patrick’s Eve Festival(

[ stpatrickamsterdam.com ]

), of which she is director, and at which a guest of honour will be Irish Ambassador

John Neary

.

“There’s huge interest in Irish music here. But I wanted to show that the range of that music is much broader than most people expect,” she said.

“For instance, how many people know that Beethoven was influenced by Irish music . . . or that John Field was the inventor of the piano nocturne? We’re far too modest about our culture.”