Columbia Chamber Winds

Kevin McKee, Trumpet

Kevin McKee is a native of Yreka, CA where he began playing the trumpet in fifth at the urging of his father who is the high school there. Following high school Kevin earned a BM from California State University, Sacramento and a MM in trumpet performance from the University of Maryland, College Park, graduating in 2006. Kevin has attended the Aspen Music Festival, the National Orchestral Institute, the Music Masters Course in Kazusa, Japan, and recently won the second trumpet chair in the Britt Festival Orchestra in Jacksonville, OR for the summer of 2009. His primary teachers have been Chris Gekker, Steve Hendrickson, Gary Dilworth, and Kevin Cobb. Kevin is a member of the Wammie-award winning Great Noise Ensemble, which is currently in residence at Catholic University of America. Kevin is also a member of the Continuum Brass Quintet and the Brass Band of the Potomac. He has also performed with the soul group, The O’Jays. Compositionally, Kevin has published three pieces: Escape (Brass Quintet), Vuelta del Fuego (Ride of Fire), and most recently on a commission from Troy University, Dürrenhorn Passage (Trumpet Sextet). In addition to performing and writing, Kevin enjoys teaching and maintains a studio of trumpet students in the D.C. area.