Tom Puwalski
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Recording Artist and Klezmer Virtuoso
Clarinetist Tom Puwalski has been playing the clarinet since the age of nine. His varied musical interests have led to a lifetime of music study. Tom studied clarinet performance privately with Ignatius Gennusa before attending the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts. He studied with Leon Russianoff at the Manhattan School of Music while he was with the 26th U.S. Army Band, stationed in Brooklyn, NY. After he transferred to the U.S. Army Field Band of Washington, DC, he began an in-depth study of klezmer. Since his retirement from the Army in 1999, he has returned to his studies, receiving his Master’s degree at the University of Maryland in 2004.
Tom is an accomplished performer and has appeared all over the world. During his 19-year tenure with the U.S. Army Field Band, he was the most frequently featured instrumental soloist in the military. His versatility and skill allowed him to perform everything from classical concert repertoire to chamber music, classical to jazz, Dixieland to Big Band, show tunes to klezmer. His rendition of “A Klezmer Tribute” brought the 1999 American Bandmasters Association Convention attendees to their feet in an enthusiastic standing ovation. He was co-founder of the popular woodwind quintet “Prevailing Winds,” which performed in the Baltimore-Annapolis area from 1985-1994. This group embodied Tom’s musical philosophy of bringing live music to everyone while breaking down the traditional barriers that exist between musical styles and genres. He performs with the Washington DC-based klezmer band, The Atonement, and was featured soloist with the Coastal Communities Concert Band in their gold medal performance in the Alpine Music Festival in Saas Fee Switzerland in 2001.
Tom is the author of “The Clarinetists Guide to Klezmer” and has conducted workshops and clinics on clarinet performance and klezmer music. In addition to numerous recordings with the U.S. Army Field Band, he has released two recordings with Lox & Vodka. He has arranged and recorded music for two documentaries on Jewish-American Life: “And Half A Day On Sunday” and “The Old Days,” as well as recording studio music for commercials, the Discovery Channel, and the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. He is a member of the International Clarinet Society and a Conn-Slemer Artist Clinician. Tom is having a busy summer in 2009 putting the finishing touches on The Atonement’s debut CD and preparing two books for publication, “Clarinet Basic Training” and Vol 2 in the his guide to klezmer series where this time you’ll be able to play along with the band.
