A welcome guest in the world's major music capitals, bassoonist Kim Walker is an internationally recognized as one of the world's foremost solo wind players. Kim Walker has toured worldwide as soloist clinician musician and teacher. A decade of orchestral experience as solo bassoon with some of Europe's finest orchestras and conductors The London Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe the RAI Torino and tows with Montreal Symphony and l'Orchestre de La Suisse Romande began this prolific career.

As soloist, Ms. Walker has appeared with major orchestras in Berlin, London Moscow, Paris and the 92nd St. Y in New York working with conductors such as: Ashkenazy Dorati, Knussen, Rozhdestvensky, and Solti. Winner of several international prizes, including theist Award of the Pope Foundation of New York, she has performed as soloist at the world's most prestigious festivals including: Ravinia, Lucerne Schleswig-Holstein, Prades, Sydney, Hong Kong, Marlboro, Wolf Trap and MIDEM. Her solo repertoire encompasses over 40 concerti and extensive recital programs a celebrated recording artist, her discography contains 18 award-winning CDs for Decca, Gallo, Collins and NMC including concertos by Mozart, Strauss, Hummel, Wolf-Ferrari and recently released Ad Ora Incerta by Simon Bainbridge.

Promoting the expressive nature of the instrument not only through research for historic treasures, but by actively forging new horizons, Ms. Walker has worked with composers such as: Stockhausen Gubaidulina, Berio, Rodney-Bennett, Baker and Bainbridge. Most recently the work by Simon Bainbridge, Ad Ora Incerta, which she commissioned in 1884, for mezzo soprano (Brigitte Fassbaender) and solo bassoon won the 1997 Grawemeyer Award.

From 1990-1995 Kim appeared at the Brereton International Music Symposium in England where she forged musical ties with Birgit Nilsson and Brigitte Fassbaender. Kim founded and was director of Les Etoiles Musicales festival in France from 1994-1996, with Birgit Nilsson and Vladimir Ashkenazy as patrons. She has given master classes worldwide: Schleswig-Holstein, Braniff, China, Australia, Scandinavia, China, throughout Europe arid North America.

Her early training came from the Interlochen Arts Academy, Sol Schoenbach at the Curtis Institute of Music, Roger Birnstingl at the Conservatoire de Musique de Geneve and Walter Stiftner on baroque bassoon at the Basel Scuola Cantorum in Switzerland. Kim remained in Europe for 18 years; performing internationally and teaching at the Geneva Conservatory. In 1994, Kim joined the renowned School of Music at Indiana University in Bloomington where she is currently Professor of Bassoon and Chair of the Woodwind Department. Her students, international prizewinners themselves, are performing in over 42 orchestras worldwide.

This Season highlighted solo performances in 21 major North American cities, a concerto in the London Proms with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Rozhdestvensky, soloist for the Gala concert conducted by Oliver Knussen for the Manchester Contemporary Music Festival with the BBC Symphony, a tour with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, a selection of festival appearances in Europe including the Prades Festival, a television documentary to be shown in Europe's France Culture Cable TV in December 1998 and several new recordings.