Kim Walker is a bassoon

Bassoon

The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...

ist of Scottish/American origins. She has performed throughout Europe and the US, and in China, and been prominent at leading Music Festivals such as Ravinia, Wolf Trap, Marlboro, Mostly Mozart in the US, Prades, Luzern, Korsholm, Schleswig-Holstein and London Proms in Europe. As a soloist she has performed with the London Philharmonia Orchestra

Philharmonia Orchestra

The Philharmonia Orchestra is one of the leading orchestras in Great Britain, based in London. Since 1995, it has been based in the Royal Festival Hall. In Britain it is also the resident orchestra at De Montfort Hall, Leicester and the Corn Exchange, Bedford, as well as The Anvil, Basingstoke...

, the Royal Philharmonic, the London Mozart Players

London Mozart Players

The London Mozart Players is a British chamber orchestra founded in 1949. The LMP is the longest-established chamber orchestra in the United Kingdom whose performances and recordings focus largely on the core repertoire from the Classical era...

, Berlin RIAS orchestra

Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin

The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin is an orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1946 by American occupation forces as the RIAS-Symphonie-Orchester . It was also known as the American Sector Symphony Orchestra...

, Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn

Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn

The Wurttemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn is one of the renowned German Chamber Orchestras, located in Heilbronn .The Orchestra was founded by Prof...

, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande is a Swiss symphony orchestra, based in Geneva at the Victoria Hall...

, and many other orchestras under the batons of Oliver Knussen

Oliver Knussen

Oliver Knussen CBE is a British composer and conductor.-Biography:Oliver Knussen was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His father, Stuart Knussen, was principal double bass of the London Symphony Orchestra. Oliver Knussen studied composition with John Lambert, between 1963 and 1969 and also received...

, Gennady Rozhdestvensky

Gennady Rozhdestvensky

Gennady Nikolayevich Rozhdestvensky is a Russian conductor.-Biography:Rozhdestvensky was born in Moscow. His parents were the noted conductor and pedagogue Nikolai Anosov and soprano Natalya Rozhdestvenskaya...

, Richard Hickox

Richard Hickox

Richard Sidney Hickox CBE was an English conductor of choral, orchestral and operatic music.-Early life:Hickox was born in Stokenchurch in Buckinghamshire into a musical family...

, Vladimir Ashkenazy

Vladimir Ashkenazy

Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy is a Russian-Icelandic conductor and pianist. Since 1972 he has been a citizen of Iceland, his wife Þórunn's country of birth. Since 1978, because of his many obligations in Europe, he and his family have resided in Meggen, near Lucerne in Switzerland...

, Jane Glover

Jane Glover

Jane Glover CBE is a British-born conductor and music scholar.-Early life:Glover attended Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls. Her father, Robert Finlay Glover MA TD,was headmaster of Monmouth School and it was through this connection that she was able to meet Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears...

, Arvo Volmer

Arvo Volmer

Arvo Volmer is an Estonian conductor.Volmer was principal conductor of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra from 1993 to 2001. Since 2004 he has been music director of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and both music director and principal conductor of the Estonian National Opera in Tallinn...

 and others.

Life

Walker graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy in 1975, receiving the Young Artist Award, a Presidential National Merit Scholarship award and academic distinctions. She then studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, with Dr Sol Schoenbach and later studied with Roger Birnstingl in Europe where in 1979 at the Conservatoire de Musique de Geneve she achieved their highest award – “Premier Prix de Virtuosite”. She furthered her studies on period instruments, working with Walter Stiftner at the Scuola Cantorum Basel, 1982–83. In 2002 she attended the ENPL (Executive Non-Profit Leadership) course at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and in 2009 the AICD (Australian Institute of Company Directors) company director’s course.

Her solo career began at Interlochen Arts Academy where in her teens she performed Gordon Jacob’s concerto as well as a televised premiere of the Michal Spisak Concerto for solo bassoon in 1974 and 1975. Her benchmark recital at the Wigmore Hall in 1982 featuring the world premiere of the bassoon version of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s In Freundschaft set her career apart and was hailed by critics; The Times

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

wrote: “She outclassed many an operatic rival”.

As a chamber musician she was a founder and member of the ‘Queens of the Night’ Bassoon quartet, the Fidelio wind ensemble in Geneva, and has performed regularly with the leading musicians in Europe at the Prades Festival, Korsholm festival, and at the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society. She has collaborated with the Guarneri quartet, the Ensemble Contrechamps, Menahem Pressler, Richard Tognetti, Dimitri Sitkovetsky, Sergei Stadler, Michel Lethiec, Gerard Willems, Maurice Bourgue, Aurele Nicolet, David Schiffrin, Edgar Meyer and many other leading musicians.

In 1994 she began an association with the pianist Leonard Hokanson, which culminated in his final recording in 2004. While at Indiana University she studied jazz under David Baker who wrote for her, the Blues Trilogy for solo bassoon, electric Bass guitar (JB Dyas, director of Thelonius Monk Institute) orchestra and light percussion. Her bassoon quartet ‘Queens of the Night’ specialized in “crossover” and VIP programs and was a featured event at the MIDEM festival in Cannes France(year). In England and Europe she spent a decade performing classical and baroque bassoons in many period ensembles.
Walker’s solo career has spanned five continents: Asia, America, Europe, Australia and Africa. She has recorded more than 31 CDs of distinction as soloist and chamber musician, many of which have won awards and critical acclaim.

Additionally, she was a member of the Bern Symphony Orchestra 1979 (Charles Dutoit), the Biel Symphony Orchestra 1979–85 (Gregorz Nowak) and RAI Torino, 1983. Walker also freelanced as guest principal bassoon with the Montreal Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, l’Orchestra de la Suisse Romande, and l’Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, under the batons of Leonard Bernstein, Antal Dorati, Sir George Solti, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Richard Hickox, Lorin Maazel, Armin Jordan, Ivan Fischer, Adam Fischer, Fruhbeck de Burgos, David Shallon, and Jesus Lopez-Corbos.

Teaching career

In 1980 Walker began teaching at the Conservatoire de Musique de Geneve and has been invited to teach regularly at the most prestigious institutions across Europe, Asia and the USA. In 1990 she joined the Lausanne Conservatoire. In 1994 the prestigious Indiana University School of Music invited her to join as Professor of Bassoon. In 1997 she received full tenure. Since 1982 Kim has given masterclasses at many of the world’s most eminent institutions. Many of her students have risen to become principal players in their own right; master teachers and award winning colleagues in the US, Europe, Asia, South America, Australia).

Professor Walker has served as an adjudicator in Europe, USA, Asia and Australia. She is currently an AICD (Australian Institute of Company Directors) member and serves on the Federal Board of the AMEB (Australian Music Examination Board). She was elected to the Federal CHASS (Council for Humanities and Social Sciences) board 2006–08, and served on the Corporation for Cultural Improvements and Attractions, City of Bloomington 2003–04; Board of Directors for Indiana University Press 2002–04; Board of Directors for Indiana University Foundation 2002–04.

Speaker and Scholar
Professor Walker has delivered two major public lectures series at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and captivated public acclaim with a full repeat series – “If Music be the Food of Love” in 2006 and “Great Minds” in 2008. She speaks regularly for Executive Programs and the University of Sydney EMBA program on Strategic and Improvisational Leadership.

As an entrepreneur, she has raised unparalleled amounts of benefaction for the Sydney Conservatorium of Music to increase student scholarships from $240,000 in 2004 to close to $3 million in 2010 through the Conservatorium and affiliated sources.
Benefaction to endow faculty positions, fund international tours (to major musical centres of Europe, Asia, USA with the major ensembles), establish the early music instrument collection, and commission 101 new works of diverse genres to celebrate the Centenary in 2015. The international collaborations provide educational opportunities for staff and students while the commissioning project brings leading composers from around the world to Sydney, and taking Australia around the world. In the end of 2011 it is anticipated that close to $65million will have been raised (inclusive of signed pledges) during her tenure as Dean and Principal at the SCM, encompassing several endowed Chairs, tour initiatives and scholarships. Additionally Professor Walker’s personal connections with leading major artists has allowed for generous loans and donations of world-class art and calligraphy to be on display.

Walker studied with Roger Birnstingl

Roger Birnstingl

Roger Birnstingl is a prominent British classical bassoonist. He studied with Archie Camden at the Royal College of Music in London. He has served as principal bassoonist of the London Philharmonic , the Royal Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra...

 at the Geneva Conservatory. Following a career performing internationally, she became involved in education. After 10 years at Indiana University

Indiana University

Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...

, Walker became Dean of Music at Sydney Conservatorium of Music

Sydney Conservatorium of Music

The Sydney Conservatorium of Music is one of the oldest and most prestigious music schools in Australia...

in 2004.
Professor Walker's career as a bassoonist is well documented with a catalogue of well over 23 solo recordings available. She continues to perform especially in Asia.

Controversy

In 2007 Kim Walker was accused of plagiarism. After a thorough investigation the University found there was no case to answer and exonerated Walker. In late 2009 she was accused of having misrepresented her qualifications. University inquiries found there had been "no intention to mislead", and cleared Walker. The Vice-Chancellor corrected the article with a letter to the Editor further clarifying that Walker had not misrepresented her qualifications. The same known and yet anonymous group of individuals continue to try to smear the reputation of Kim Walker as they have tried to do over the past five years. The university has spent large sums of money on these investigations with lawyers, Barristers and retired Supreme Court judges to review the issues. On every count Walker has been cleared yet the same individuals use any situation, including this page of wikipedia, to try to restate the allegations which are unfounded. Despite these distractions Professor Walker has raised academic and artistic standards, brought forward international relationships for the students and staff, raised large sums of benefaction, championed research schemes across the faculty and brought forward unparalleled performance opportunities for staff and students and forged strong links with the professional artists in Australia. She continues to teach, perform and offer masterclasses around the world.

External links

• Official Website
• You Tube, also here and here
• http://sydney.edu.au/music/docs/PUB_MKG_CON_Tribute_Issue_3.pdf
• http://www.usyd.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=6675