Mr. Bruce Walker, Jr

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 positions of Music Director for the Yakima Youth Symphony and Oregon East Symphony Youth Orchestras. During the summer months, Mr. Walker works throughout theUnited 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,and the Musicians of the Spokane Symphony Orchestra. Memorable for his unique style of positive student engagement, analogies, and his knowledge of the orchestral repertoire, Mr. Walker is also in high demand as an adjudicator and guest conductor for many All-State and Honors Orchestras throughout the United States, most recently conducting the 2021 Nevada All-State Symphony Orchestra. Upcoming engagements include working with orchestras and schools in throughout the Pacific Northwest and Alabama and presenting at various conferences.

As a cellist, Mr. Walker remains very active as a traditional and Suzuki cello teacher, solo performer, and orchestral cellist. He has appeared as soloist with the Marrowstone Music Festival Orchestra, the Belleville Philharmonic Orchestra, and most recently with the Oregon East Symphony performing Luigi Boccherini (arr. Grutzmacher)—Cello Concerto No. 9 in B flat. He has also held principal cello positions with the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Orchestra, Marrowstone Music Festival Orchestra, Central Washington University Symphony, Wenatchee Valley Symphony, and the Pierre Monteux School Symphony Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Mr. Walker won numerous competitions with Trio Giocoso and the DeKalb and Byron String Quartets. Currently, he is an on-call cellist to the Oregon East Symphony (Pendelton, Oregon), Walla Walla Symphony (Walla Walla, Washington), Mid-Columbia Symphony (Richland, Washington), and Yakima Symphony (Yakima, Washington).

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 Doctorate of Music Arts degree in Music Education through Boston University. His primary teachers have been Kangho Lee and John Michel (cello), Dr. Jeffery Meyer, Michael Jinbo, Dr. Nikolas Caoile, Kenneth Woods, and Lawrence Golan (conducting), and Dr. Beth Cantrell, Priscilla Jones, Dr. Andrea Yun, and the late H. Glenda Piek (Suzuki cello).

When not in the classroom, on the podium working with ensembles, or teaching cello lessons, he enjoys hiking and traveling around the Pacific Northwest, enjoying time outside around a BBQ pit and smoker sampling new culinary creations, or shopping for and admiring argyle socks.