Biography
Brian Falkowski is a versatile multi-instrumentalist, composer/arranger, visual artist, and educator who currently resides in Washington D.C. where he constantly expands his musical horizons by collaborating with musicians from all over the world. His evolving musicianship is driven by the need to create, explore, and stretch the boundaries of artistic expression.
Brian graduated Cum Laude from the University of Maryland School of music where he studied saxophone, flute, and clarinet with his mentors Chris Vadala and Dale Underwood. In 2004 he was a Semifinalist in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition with the Quadrivium Saxophone Quartet, and was awarded Grand Prize in the 2005 Mu Phi Epsilon Soloist Competition. Since then he has traveled the world playing music on cruise ships, performed in pit orchestras for musical productions, entertained world leaders at private events in the nation’s capital, and maintained a constant presence on the diverse local music scene.
He has performed at top venues in the DC/MD/VA area including Blues Alley, The Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, The Howard Theatre, The Carter Baron Amphitheater, The 9:30 Club, The Hamilton, The Atlas Performing Arts Center, Twins Jazz Club, The Smithsonian Museums, Dupont Underground, Workhouse Arts Center, and the National Press Building. Some notable local music festivals he has taken stage at include The Lake Arbor Jazz Festival, The National Cherry Blossom Festival, The Mount Vernon Jazz and Wine Festival, The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Art All Night Festival, Takoma Park Jazz Festival, DC Blues Festival, ProgFest, Art Soiree Fine Art Series, and the US Botanical Gardens Concert Series.
Equally at home in the studio as on stage, Brian’s woodwind artistry can be heard on over 40 albums including his 2010 debut recording “Transitions”, the Zeitgeist Media progressive music documentary “Romantic Warriors”, Tosin Aribisala’s 2018 album “Africa Rising” which received a Grammy Nomination for “Best World Music Recording”, and The Archives 2021 album “Carry Me Home: A Reggae Tribute to Gil Scott Heron and Brian Jackson” which won the DC Wammie Award for Best Reggae Album.
As an active educator, Brian has served on faculty at The International School of Music, The Harmonia School Of Music, and currently teaches at Music On The Hill and the Chevy Chase Arts Academy where he maintains a studio of private woodwind and piano students of all ages, a practice that he believes carries equal dedication to craft as performing and composing.
In October 2022, Brian made his debut as an orchestral composer with the premier of “Ave Maria Trilogy” with the Symphony Orchestra of Northern Virginia (SONOVA) featuring tenor vocalist Jackson Caesar.
In October 2023, Brian was awarded a Fellowship Grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities for his work as a composer in the DC/VA/MD area and beyond.
Brian’s ongoing exploration of impressionistic concepts in his most recent project “INTROVERSION” blends multi-layered composition, improvisation, and abstract visual elements as a reflection of his experience through chromesthesia.