In 1990 she joined the Lausanne Conservatoire and in 1994 was appointed Professor of Bassoon at Indiana University School of Music, gaining full tenure in 1997.
In 2004 Kim was recruited to be Dean and Principal of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, a faculty of the University of Sydney where she was instrumental in attracting world-class Faculty members; broadening the curriculum; boosting the size and number of scholarships; expanding the number of overseas concert tours for students, introducing a network of distance learning programs and gaining higher international status for the institution.
When stepping down as Dean at the end of 2011 to return to the faculty, Professor Walker was the longest serving Dean at the University of Sydney. Indiana University Press has published her book, Woodwind Pedagogy “Spirited Wind Playing: The Performance Dimension“. Kim has returned to performing, coaching and conducting worldwide.
Master Classes
Kim has given master classes at many of the world’s eminent institutions. Many of her former students have gone on to become principal players in their own right; master teachers and award winning colleagues around the world.
Fundraiser
Kim has a long history of successful fundraising. In Sydney she raised unparalleled amounts of benefaction for the Sydney Conservatorium of Music between 2004-2011. Scholarships for students grew from $240,000 to close to $3 million in annual awards as the endowment increased by more than $60 million to endow scholarships and fund faculty positions. Annually Kim raised further support for international student tours to the musical centres of Europe, Asia and USA. Kim enabled the establishment of the Gerald Westheimer instrument collection, art and instrument acquisition and provided impetus for the commissioning of 101 new compositions. Her clients in recent years have benefited by over $123 million in tangible benefits.
Career Summaries
Kim Walker is recognized as one of the world’s leading bassoonists, and one of the leading soloists of her generation, having performed on six continents and recorded more than 30 highly acclaimed CDs as a soloist and chamber musician.
A prolific solo career began in her teens with a benchmark recital at the Wigmore Hall in 1982, of which the London Times wrote: “She outclassed many an operatic rival.” Since then, Kim has performed at leading musical festivals around the globe, including private events at the White House as soloist and chamber musician with many of the great European Orchestras and pre-eminent conductors.
Kim was a founding member of Queens of the Night quartet and the Fidelio wind ensemble in Geneva. She was a regular guest artist with the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society from 1993 to 2005 and has collaborated with the Guarneri quartet, the Ensemble Contrechamps, as well as Menahem Pressler, Richard Tognetti, Dimitri Sitkovetsky, David Schiffrin, Joseph Silverstein, Maurice Bourgue,and many other leading musicians.
Kim spent a decade in leading orchestras of Europe and has also free-lanced as guest principal bassoon with Montreal Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, l’Orchestra de la Suisse Romande, and l’Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne under the batons of: Leonard Bernstein, Armin Jordan, Antal Dorati, Sir George Solti, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Richard Hickox, Lorin Maazel, Ivan Fischer and many other illustrious conductors.
Conducting
With 30 years experience conducting Wind Serenades (Mozart, Strauss, Dvorak, Enesco) Kim has now expanded her repertoire to chamber and symphonic orchestral performances. A passion for Bach and a champion of contemporary music she enjoys ongoing engagements in Asia and forthcoming appearances in Europe. Kim brings her years of performing these works and presenting programs together in a unique blend of passion, vitality and emotional dexterity.