Dr. Kevin Whalen is Associate Professor of Trumpet and Jazz Studies at Texas Tech University, where he combines active performance, research, and teaching. A versatile musician, Dr. Whalen has appeared on more than 25 commercially released albums across jazz and classical genres and has performed in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Hungary, Ireland, Mexico, The Netherlands, Romania, the United Kingdom, and all 48 contiguous U.S. states.
He has toured extensively holding jazz trumpet chairs with both the Glenn Miller Orchestra and the Grammy-nominated University of North Texas One O'Clock Lab Band. His recent recordings include Road to Nowhere (2023, OA2/Origin Records) with Texas Tech colleagues Stephen Jones and Ben Haugland, and Sojourn (2024, Mark Records) with the Palisade Trumpet Collective, a professional ensemble dedicated to performing innovative new music domestically and abroad. Sojourn was named a Silver Medal Winner in the 2024 Global Music Awards and a National Finalist for the 2025 American Prize in Chamber Music Performance.
As a dedicated educator and scholar, Dr. Whalen has presented at numerous national and international conferences, including the Jazz Education Network Annual Conference, the International Trumpet Guild Conference, the International Conference on the Blues, the International Music by Women Festival, the Conference on the Harlem Renaissance, and various music education conferences across multiple states. His masterclasses have been hosted by institutions around the world, such as the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp (Belgium), Codarts University for the Arts (The Netherlands), Escuela Superior de Música–National Center for the Arts (Mexico), the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music (Hungary), and leading universities across the United States, including Baylor University, the Eastman School of Music, Florida State University, Ithaca College, the University of Kentucky, the University of Tennessee, and Virginia Tech, among others.
Dr. Whalen has served as chair of the adjudication panel for both the final and semi-final rounds of the Jazz Division at the National Trumpet Competition. His students have gone on to win positions with elite ensembles such as 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, and have earned accolades at the National Trumpet Competition and the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition. In 2024, the Texas Tech University Trumpet Ensemble earned first place in the Large College Ensemble Division at the National Trumpet Competition.
Prior to his appointment 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.
Dr. Whalen holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Trumpet Performance from the University of North Texas, a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the University of Northern Colorado, and a Bachelor of Music 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.
