In this rehearsal lab, Mr. Walker will demonstrate rehearsal strategies and concepts with an emphasis on practical pedagogy that you can implement in your ensemble rehearsals as early as tomorrow. The shared strategies are as equally applicable to a group “firing on all pistons” as they are to an ensemble in a rebuilding situation, and while some ideas are “tried and true,” others may open new avenues on ways to help your students better understand their role in music making.
Bruce Walker
- Biographical Information
Bruce Walker is an Associate Professor of Music at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, WA, Music Director for the Walla Walla Symphony Youth Orchestra, Past President of the Washington chapter for the American String Teachers Association, on the Board of Directors for the Suzuki Association of the Americas, College/University representative for the Washington Music Educators Association, and the 2021 Music Educator of the Year by the Washington Music Educators Association. Previously, he held the position of Music Director for the Yakima Youth Symphony and Oregon East Symphony Youth Orchestras. During the summer months, Mr. Walker works throughout the United States and Canada at various Suzuki institutes, music camps, festivals, and retreats. Internationally, he has also worked with the Youth Excellence on Stage Academy in collaboration with American Voices, a non-profit, cultural exchange organization. Through this organization, he has conducted orchestras and taught cello in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. As a conductor, Mr. Walker participated in many workshops and music festivals across the United States such as the Marrowstone Music Festival, Pierre Monteux School for Conductors and Orchestral Musicians, various workshops sponsored by the Conductor’s Guild, Astoria Music Festival, Rose City International Conductor’s Workshop, and the University of Oregon Orchestral Conducting Institute. He has appeared as guest conductor with the Central Washington University Symphony, Oregon East Symphony, Yakima Symphony, Portland Columbia Symphony, Walla Walla Symphony, Olympia Symphony, and the Musicians of the Spokane Symphony Orchestra. Memorable for his for his engaging teaching style, positive student rapport, and extensive knowledge of the orchestral repertoire, Mr. Walker is in high demand as an adjudicator and guest conductor for All-State and Honors Orchestras nationwide. Recently, he has been a clinician for the 2024 National Orchestra Festival and conducted the 2024 Music in May Festival in Forest Grove, Oregon, as well as the 2023 All-State Orchestras in Oregon, Alabama, and Georgia. His upcoming engagements for the 2024-2025 season include guest conducting with the Walla Walla Symphony, working with various school and honor orchestras and festivals in the Pacific Northwest, and conducting All-State Orchestras in Washington, Florida, Maryland, and the NAfME All-Eastern Orchestra in Hartford, Connecticut. Mr. Walker earned Bachelor of Music degrees in Music Education and Cello Performance from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and a Master of Music degree from Central Washington University focusing on Orchestral Conducting and Cello Performance. In the fall of 2019, he began his Doctor of Music Arts degree in Music Education through Boston University. Outside the classroom and off the podium, he enjoys hiking and traveling around the Pacific Northwest, experimenting with new recipes on his BBQ pit and smoker, or shopping for and admiring argyle socks.