Young Masters Recital Series: Kyle Walker

A strong advocate for social equality, critically-acclaimed pianist Kyle P. Walker believes music can speak to social issues better than verbal language can, the understanding of which he brings to both traditional Western repertoire and that of the living world-wide composers with whom he collaborates. Many of his performances have been featured on media broadcasts including The Green Space at WNYC, WQXR’s Mcgraw-Hill Financial Young Artists Showcase, South Carolina Public Radio, Sunday Baroque, NPR’s Public Radio East, NPR’s 1A, CNN, and PBS. He has been featured in recitals at New York’s Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, and with orchestra in Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall. Highlights of past seasons include solo performances at The Apollo Theater, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Crocker Art Museum, The Frist Museum of Art, The Tantaloona Cave of Australia, the Lied Center of Kansas, Adelaide Town Hall, Berkeley Piano Club, and The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Walker is pianist of DARA + KYLE, innovative piano/cello duo and 2021 recipient of the Chamber Music America “Ensemble Forward” career grant. The award-winning duo is committed to bringing excellence and respect to all under-represented composers in the canon. Walker also performs with The Harlem Chamber Players, an ethnically diverse collective of professional musicians dedicated to bringing high-caliber, affordable and accessible live classical music to people in the Harlem community and beyond. As an advocate of social justice Walker is a founding member and chamber musician of The Dream Unfinished, an activist orchestra which supports NYC-based civil rights and community organizations through concerts and presentations. As a teaching artist and educator, he has co-presented at the Human Rights Center, New York Society for Ethical Culture, and the Brooklyn Public Library.

Walker has performed as soloist with the East Carolina Symphony Orchestra and Colour of Music Chamber Orchestra, and in addition he has presented performances at The Kennedy Center, Steinway Hall NYC, The Great Hall at Cooper Union, The House of the Redeemer, Birmingham Jefferson Concert Hall, Tishman Auditorium, National Opera America, Lincoln Center’s Metropolitan Opera, and National Sawdust. He has performed at Caramoor Center for Music and Arts, Storm King Art Center, The Colour of Music Festival, Tibor Varga Music Festival in Switzerland, The Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival, The Ferrara Chamber Music Festival, Enso Chamber Music Festival, the Beethoven Institute, and spent numerous summers at PianoFest in the Hamptons, NY. He is a frequent collaborator in new music performance projects with living composers such as Vijay Iyer, John Link, Courtney Bryan, Jeffery Scott, Evan Williams, Matthew Lyon Hazzard, Joan Szymko, Tania Leon, and Mary D. Watkins.

Walker is a member of the piano faculty at NYU Steinhardt Piano Studies. In addition he is also on faculty of the Lucy Moses School at Kaufman Music Center, and on the chamber music faculty of The Artist Program at Suzuki on the Island. He has presented recitals, residencies, and masterclasses at various institutions such as The University of Dayton, The University of Virginia, Belmont University, Allen University, The Harlem School of the Arts, and The Duke Ellington School of the Arts. He has also co-presented extensive workshops alongside The Dream Unfinished including the Carnegie Hall Music Educator Workshop, speaking about arts activism and building diverse curriculums for students, to include composers that reflect the communities in which they serve. Kyle Walker holds degrees from Mannes College, The New School for Music, East Carolina University, and from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. His principal teachers include Thomas Sauer, Benjamin Hochman, Keiko Sekino, Henry Doskey, and Clifton Matthews.

Walker resides in a suburb of New York City with his wife, violinist Katherine Dennis, and their daughter Khloe. He is currently touring with a solo performance project entitled Bach to BlackNotes, which features works of J.S. Bach juxtaposed with music of neglected composers who speak to issues of oppression and inequality. See and hear more of Kyle Walker’s musicianship on Instagram @klassicalkyle and at www.kylewalkerpiano.com.

Registration is required.