UWA graduate to be Conservatoire de Paris professor of historical clarinet

UWA graduate Nicola Boud will become the first woman professor of historical clarinet at the Conservatoire de Paris.

Nicola Boud has achieved outstanding success since she took honours in music at the University of Western Australia 22 years ago.

A graduate in music from the University of Western Australia has been appointed professor of historical clarinet at the Conservatoire de Paris, and is believed to be the first woman to hold the job in its 226-year history.

Nicola Boud, who graduated with first class honours from UWA in 1999, and completed her masters in historical performance at the The Netherlands’ Royal Conservatory in The Hague in 2004, is based in Ghent, in Belgium.

“I will teach mainly historical clarinet as well as collaborate with the modern clarinet classes, to teach ‘initiation’ lessons in historical clarinet to the modern students,” Ms Boud said.

The historical clarinet dates from the early baroque period up until the era of the modern instrument in the 20th century.

“For a long time clarinets were made from boxwood and had less keys. I have around 45 instruments, from early 18th century chalumeaux for baroque music right through to early 20th century French and German clarinets for repertoire such as Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky and Mahler.

“I feel like after almost 20 years of performing as a freelance musician, soloist, chamber musician and principal clarinet with many of the leading period instrument orchestras, it seemed like a very logical step to balance this performing life with passing my experience on to the next generation.”

Ms Boud said that after the pandemic’s disruption to performances in Europe, many concert halls were open again, albeit with audience limits.

“Later this month I have concerts at the Salzburg Festival, and then on to Berlin and Bonn. I’m also very glad that summer orchestral academies for music students can go ahead, it’s been such a tough year for them.”