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Washington State University
College of Arts and Sciences School of Music

Martin King

Office: Kimbrough 466
School of Music
Washington State University
PO Box 645300
Pullman, WA 99164-5300
Phone: (509) 335-8046
Email: martin.king@wsu.edu

Assistant Professor of Music, Horn Professor and Music Education

Dr. Martin King is Assistant Professor of Horn and Music Education at Washington State University. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from James Madison University, and his Masters Degree in Horn Performance from the University of Alabama. He completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Horn Performance at Alabama in 2016.

Dr. King has a wide-ranging playing and teaching career across the United States and around the world. Upon graduation from James Madison University, he took a position teaching middle and high school band in Alleghany County, Virginia. In addition to directing the middle school bands and assisting with the high school band program, King also maintained a large private horn studio. Before coming to WSU, Mr. King taught horn at Mississippi State University, and he served as a teaching assistant at the University of Alabama in horn and musicology. At WSU, Dr. King teaches horn lessons and horn studio, coordinates the Instrumental Music Education program, teaches Music Ed classes, is the academic advisor for Music Education students, and supervises student teachers and practicum students.

King currently performs in the Equinox Brass Quintet and the Solstice Wind Quintet, the faculty quintets at WSU. Dr. King is a founding member of the Pan-Pacific Ensemble, an ensemble dedicated to commissioning, performing, and recording the music of composers from around the Pacific Rim. The ensemble has performed across the United States and throughout Southeast Asia. The Pan Pacific Ensemble has commissioned ten new works for quintet and has recorded three albums on Albany Records: Feng, ironhorses, and Ambiguous Traces.

Dr. King has performed in China, Vietnam, Thailand, and around the United States. King has performed as a soloist with the Saigon Wind Ensemble, the Washington Idaho Symphony, the Washington State University Wind Ensemble, the Mississippi State Chorale, at the International Horn Symposium, various regional symposia, and at universities across the country.

Dr. King maintains an active orchestral schedule. He is currently principal horn with the Mid-Columbia and Washington Idaho Symphony, and he performs with the Spokane, Yakima, and Walla Walla symphonies. Dr. King has performed as principal horn with the Guangxi Symphony Orchestra to open the China ASEAN Music Week in 2016. He held the position of principal horn with the Starkville Symphony and has performed with the North Mississippi Symphony, Gadsden Symphony, and Tuscaloosa Symphony. He formerly played with the Waynesboro Symphony from 2008-2011.

Dr. King’s primary teachers are Abigail Pack and Charles “Skip” Snead. He also studied with John McGuire and has played in masterclasses with Eric Ruske and Richard Sebring. King is a member of Phi Kappa Lambda, the College Music Society, the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, the National Association for Music Education, and the International Horn Society.