Meet Dr. Walker

Jett M. Walker, DMA, currently holds the position of Assistant Professor of Trombone at Western Illinois University. In addition to his work with the WIU Trombone Studio, he also teaches courses in conducting and performs with the La Moine Brass Quintet, the resident faculty brass quintet at Western Illinois University. His scholarly research is focused on establishing and improving best practices for student brass quintets as well as adapting various applied-lesson pedagogies to the trombone ensemble setting.

Dr. Walker enjoys an active performance schedule as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral freelancer. He has regularly performed with the Cincinnati Symphony, Cincinnati Pops, Battle Creek Symphony, Richmond Symphony, and Kentucky Symphony, and has also performed with the Cincinnati Opera, Dayton Philharmonic, Queen City Opera, Carmel Symphony, Lexington Philharmonic, and Brazos Valley Symphony. A versatile musician and enthusiast of jazz and commercial music, he has also performed with the Cincy Brass, Blue Wisp Big Band, Joe Rogers Big Band, Seven Dutchmen Orchestra, Olmos Basin Brass Quintet, and numerous musical pit orchestras. His freelance work has allowed him to share the stage with such illustrious performers as Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr., and most recently, The Who.

Dr. Walker is committed to regularly commissioning and performing new works for solo trombone. He has recently commissioned and premiered two works for solo trombone, Jett Stream Blue by David Wilborn, and Sonata for Trombone and Brass Quartet by Jack Wilds, in which Walker served as the consortium's lead commissioner. In 2023, Walker performed Jett Stream Blue at both the Big 12 Trombone Conference and the International Trombone Festival. In solo competitions, Walker was named winner of both the CCM Brass Solo Competition (2021) and Texas State University Concerto Competition (2020), and performed as a featured soloist with the CCM Chamber Orchestra in 2022.

Prior to attending graduate school, Walker also served as a public school band director for five years in central Texas. Bands under his direction were consistent recipients of the UIL Sweepstakes award among many others. He is also a proud contributing writer for the growing online journal The Collective: Shifting the Paradigm for Critical Musicians, and serves as a writer and album reviewer for the International Trombone Association Journal.

Jett received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Trombone Performance from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Texas State University in Music Education and Trombone Performance, respectively. Jett is also an S. E. Shires Performing Artist and performs exclusively on Shires trombones.

For more information, visit jettwalkertrombone.com.