Emily Link has been with the Band since 1996 — after a four-decade hiatus away from her clarinet. Now she plays three different instruments.
What first brought you to the New Horizons Band?
I joined the New Horizons Band of Madison in 1996, following the death of my husband. I hadn’t played my clarinet in over forty years and had never played in a “band”, only an orchestra and only in high school. As I recall there were only two of us; but I do remember playing an arrangement appropriate for us of Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony… what an experience! Music continues to sustain me.
Why do you play the instrument you play?
Sometime in the late nineties, Peter [Ziegler] saw me standing around doing nothing and told me I should play tenor sax. I had never even held a sax. He would not be deterred and the rest is history, as they say. A few years later, and a few sax lessons later, he told me to switch to alto. Same story.
What other musical bands, endeavors, or outlets do you pursue?
It was in the late 1990s that I became involved with the group that was to become Hooked On Bands, along with Mike McCoy and Muriel Gilbert. I have been on and off its Board ever since. What else do I enjoy? Well, I continue to facilitate groups at Gilda’s of Madison. I bike, kayak, bird, garden and just generally enjoy life.