Dr. Kevin Whalen is Associate Professor of Trumpet and Jazz Studies at Texas Tech University. A versatile performer, Whalen has appeared throughout the United States and Canada as the solo trumpet chair of the Glenn Miller Orchestra and has toured internationally while holding a jazz trumpet chair with the Grammy-nominated University of North Texas One O'Clock Lab Band. He has appeared on over 25 commercially released albums in both jazz and classical idioms and has performed in the United Kingdom, Ireland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Romania, Mexico, Canada, and all 48 contiguous U.S. states. Most recently, Whalen can be heard on the 2023 OA2/Origin Records release Road to Nowhere with Texas Tech colleagues Stephen Jones and Ben Haugland and the 2024 Mark Records release Sojourn with the Palisade Trumpet Collective, a professional trumpet ensemble that presents diverse new music at universities and concert venues domestically and abroad.
Sojourn was named a Silver Medal Winner in the 2024 Global Music Awards.
An experienced teacher and engaged scholar, Dr. Whalen has presented research at the Jazz Education Network Annual Conference, the Annual Conference of the International Trumpet Guild, the International Conference on the Blues, the International Music by Women Festival, the Conference on the Harlem Renaissance, and music education conferences in several states. He has been invited to lead masterclasses at the Eastman School of Music, Ithaca College, the University of North Texas, the Escuela Superior de Música-National Center for the Arts (Mexico), Gonzaga University, the University of Wyoming, Colorado State University, the University of Northern Colorado, Virginia Tech, and the American School of The Hague (The Netherlands). As a member of the Palisade Trumpet Collective, Whalen has presented at Codarts University for the Arts (The Netherlands), the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp (Belgium), Florida State University, the University of Florida, the University of Central Florida, the University of Kentucky, the University of Tennessee, and Baylor University among others. His trumpet students have won positions in the Disney All-American Band, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Eastman Jazz Ensemble, the United States Army Band Pershing's Own, the UNT One O'Clock Lab Band, the National Trumpet Competition, and the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition.
Most recently, the Texas Tech University Trumpet Ensemble placed first in the Large College Ensemble Division of the 2024 National Trumpet Competition.
Before joining the faculty at Texas Tech, Dr. Whalen served as Director of Jazz Studies and Associate Professor of Jazz Studies at the Columbus State University Schwob School of Music, Instructor of Jazz Trumpet at the University of Northern Colorado, Managing Producer of the UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival, and Teaching Fellow at the University of North Texas. Whalen holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in trumpet performance from the University of North Texas, a Master of Music degree in jazz studies from the University of Northern Colorado, and a Bachelor of Music degree in music education from Colorado State University. His principal teachers include Robert Murray, Keith Johnson, David Shaner, Kent Erickson, and Bruce Dalby.
Dr. Kevin Whalen is a Conn-Selmer Endorsing Artist and plays Bach Stradivarius trumpets.
