EHS Band Artist in Residence Rob Walker

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2010-2011 Artist in Residence

Rob Walker

Sponsored by the Jeker Family Trust

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Walker is quite active as a composer/arranger. Walker's music can be heard in the Disney major motion picture release "College Road Trip” (2008). His music was featured on the 2009 feature releases, “High School Musical III”, “Fired Up!” , ABC Family’s “My Fake Fiance” and Starting Out in the Evening (2007). His music can currently be heard on ABC's One Life to Live, NBC's Friday Night Lights, Vh1's Scott Baio is 46 and Pregnant, Lifetime's Matched in Manhattan, Army Wives, CBS's Shark and Cold Case, FOX's The O.C. and two Animal Planet shows, Divine Canine and Ms. Adventure. Internationally, Walker's music can be heard in the French film, Arletty, Lady Paname. In Australia, his music is prominent in shows such as The Shak and Vet Safari. His music has played in television shows in Canada, Finland, UK, South Africa, Germany, France, Norway, Mexico, Australia, Switzerland, Czech Republic, and Sweden.

He has written for Mike Vax and the Stan Kenton Alumni Band. His big band arranging was featured on a 2007 Time-Life Holiday Music CD and was featured at Warner Center in New York City. His recently was awarded a Berklee Alumni Grant to present jazz improvisation and concert series in Boise. He is a composer in residence with Five Alarm Music, a leading film/TV production company in Los Angeles. He begin his film writing career as a guest composer with Mike Post Productions. Rob also is a jingle writer and penned radio and TV commercials for Honda.

Jazz Trumpet
Rob Walker has performed with many of music's most notable acts including Wayne Newton, Natalie Cole, Ray Charles, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Supremes, and The Moody Blues. He was recognized by Downbeat magazine as a "Musician Deserving Wider Recognition". He recently appeared as the jazz soloist with the United States Air Force Jazz Commanders. As a jazz soloist, Walker appeared at the Gene Harris Jazz Festival, the 2002 Park City International Jazz Festival, the Living Legends Jazz Festival, and at the San Miguel International Jazz Festival in Mexico. He has also shared bebop licks with such jazz masters as David "Fathead" Newman, John Heard, Gene Ludwig, Ray Santisi, Gary Foster, Bobby Shew, Lanny Morgan, Jeff Hamilton, Kim Richmond, and Larry Gales. Walker has also played in the pit for two Broadway national tours, "Chicago", "Spamalot", and the Glenn Beck Xmas tour.
Educator/Clinician
Rob Walker frequently appears as a clinician, jazz festival adjudicator, and jazz educator. He is the Director of Jazz Studies at the College of Idaho. He is the Music Director at the Ferrwood Music Camp in Eastern PA and has served as Artistic Director for the Pasadena Jazz Institute’s Summer Jazz Program. He was a founding faculty member of the Jazz Saturdays Series at Boise State University, and the co-founder of the Gene Harris Jazz Camp. He created and conducted the Idaho All State All Star Jazz Ensemble for three years. He also directed the Sacred Heart Elementary School Jazz Band who performed as a warm-up act for Dave Brubeck at the 2004 Gene Harris Jazz Festival. He is a frequent jazz festival adjudicator and clinician and was a member of the International Jazz Educators (IAJE) Artist Outreach Network.

He has adjudicated various high school and college jazz festivals including BYU Jazz Festival, Park City Jazz Festival, Gene Harris Jazz Festival, College of Southern Idaho Jazz Festival, and countless high school festivals. He also appeared as a clinician at various music educator conferences including the IAJE Conference in New York City. He currently hosts his own jazz radio show on KBSU FM called Jazz Conversations with Rob Walker.

Educational Background
Rob Walker studied jazz composition with trumpeter Herb Pomeroy at the Berklee College of Music. He holds a B.A. from New York University in Film and Music Composition and did additional compositional studies at The Juilliard School. He has studied trumpet with Bobby Shew, Clay Jenkins, Vince DiMartino,and Mike Metheny.

As one of the pioneers of music on the Internet, Walker amassed over 200,000 downloads of his original music in 2002 and was named “Best Jazz Artist/Group” at mp3.com. Walker can also be heard at www.pandora.com, where he is a featured artist. Walker is a member of the International Trumpet Guild and ASCAP.

Rob Walker’s Radio show Jazz Conversations airs Saturdays at 8PM on KBSU FM 90.3.

Each week, we explore the music of a jazz icon