Director of Bands
Associate Professor of Music
John M. Long School of Music
Long Hall Band Office
Troy University
Troy, AL 36082
334.670.3281
334.670.5664 (FAX)
mjwalker@troy.edu

Mark Walker serves as Director of Bands, Coordinator of Winds and Percussion and Associate Professor of Music at Troy University where he conducts the Troy University Symphony Band, the nationally renown “Sound of the South” Marching Band,  teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in conducting, marching band techniques, measurement and evaluation, and music education.

In addition to his teaching duties, Dr. Walker serves as Chairman of the Board of the Southeastern United States Clinic and Honor Bands, Executive Director of the Middle School Southeastern United States Band Clinic and Honor Bands, and is the Director of the “Sound of the South” Summer Music Camp and Director’s Clinic. Dr. Walker is also a published author, whose articles appear in state and national music education publications.  He is a contributor to The Euphonium Source Book, published by Indiana University Press.  Additionally, Dr. Walker is the Associate Editor of the Journal of Band Research, the only peer reviewed research journal in the world devoted solely to the study of bands and band music.

Dr. Walker earned his bachelor’s degree in music education at Tennessee Technological University, where he studied euphonium with R. Winston Morris, conducting with Joseph Hermann and composition with Robert Jager.  He received his master’s and doctorate degrees in music education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign during which time he studied euphonium with Mark Moore, conducting with James Keene and research methods under Drs. Deborah Sheldon and Gregory DeNardo. Dr. Walker is also the recipient of the prestigious A.A. Harding Award from the University of Illinois Bands.

As a performer, Dr. Walker is heard on the Grammy Award nominated compact disc Euphoniums Unlimited on the Mark Records label. He has performed as featured soloist with the Tennessee Tech University Symphony Band, the Westwinds Brass Band, Troy University Summer Band, and the Plainview (TX) Symphony Orchestra.
Bands and students under Dr. Walker’s direction have received many honors at the regional and state level in Texas, where he taught middle school and high school band.  In addition, Dr. Walker has recently appeared as conductor, clinician and adjudicator in Canada and throughout Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas. In 2009, Dr. Walker received the honor of conducting both the Royal Hawaiian Band and the Marine Forces Pacific Band, located in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Dr. Walker’s past and present professional affiliations include Phi Beta Mu, CBDNA, National Band Association, Music Educators National Conference, Alabama Music Education Association, Alabama Bandmasters Association, Kappa Kappa Psi, Phi Mu Alpha, Kappa Delta Pi, Phi Delta Kappa, Tau Beta Sigma, Sigma Alpha Iota, Texas Bandmasters Association, and World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles.

Dr. Walker is married to Jessica Walker, who teaches sixth grade at Goshen Elementary, and resides in Troy with their daughter, Emily.