Bio

A Pittsburgh native, Kevin Walko is the Bass Clarinetist of The U.S. Army Field Band, Washington, D.C. who is also an active educator, composer/arranger, and copyist. Kevin holds his M.M. in Clarinet Performance and Literature from Northwestern University, where he studied with both Steve Cohen and J. Lawrie Bloom. His undergraduate degree is a B.S. of Music Education from Duquesne University, where he studied with Jack Howell. Also while at Duquesne, a lot of his time went into the jazz program where he took composition and arranging with Mike Tomaro and studied improvisation with Sean Jones.

Notable performance venues include the 2009, 2013, and 2017 Presidential Inaugural Parades, Carnegie Hall, Dizzy’s Coca Cola room at Lincoln Center, and Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh. He has also participated in master classes with Paquito D’Rivera, Burt Hara, Eddie Daniels, Dan Silver, Yahuda Gilad, and Yo-Yo Ma. Kevin is a frequent soloist with The U.S. Army Field Band. He has performed various jazz medleys, the Artie Shaw Clarinet Concerto, Der Alte Brummbar on Bass Clarinet, and is often seen in a dixie quartet wailing on encores. His clarinet quintet, the Capitol Clarinets, performed a recital at the 2012 International Clarinet Association convention and in 2016 he appeared at ICA again on the ‘J. Lawrie Bloom and Friends’ recital with eight other top bass clarinetists from around the country. He has performed with the Illinois, Wheeling, and Richmond Symphonies as well as various festival and regional orchestras.

His teaching and clinics span the country. Kevin has been the clarinet teaching assistant at both the Brevard and Marrowstone Music Festivals, and has presented clinics on multiple topics in over 25 states. Over the course of his private teaching he has had over 100 students, some of which have been accepted into All-State band/orchestras as well as major conservatories throughout the United States, most notably the Eastman School of Music and Northwestern University.