About
Clarinetist Tom Puwalski has played the clarinet since age nine, and his varied musical interests have led to a lifetime of study. He studied privately with Ignatius Gennusa before attending the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts. While serving with the 26th U.S. Army Band in Brooklyn, New York, he studied with Leon Russianoff at the Manhattan School of Music. After transferring to the U.S. Army Field Band in Washington, D.C., he undertook an intensive study of klezmer. Following his retirement from the Army in 1999, he returned to formal study with Loren Kitt at the University of Maryland.
Tom is an accomplished and versatile performer who has appeared around the world. During his 19 years with the U.S. Army Field Band, he was the most frequently featured instrumental soloist in the military band field, performing everything from full concerts and chamber music to classical repertoire, jazz, Dixieland, big band, show tunes, and klezmer. His solo at the 1999 American Bandmasters Association Convention brought the audience to its feet.
Tom co-founded the woodwind quintet Prevailing Winds, which performed throughout the Baltimore–Annapolis area from 1985 to 1994 and embodied his belief in bringing live music to everyone while breaking down barriers among musical styles. He also performs with the Washington, D.C.-based klezmer band The Atonement and was a featured soloist with the Coastal Communities Concert Band during its gold-medal performance at the 2001 Alpine Music Festival in Saas-Fee, Switzerland.
Tom is the author of The Clarinetist's Guide to Klezmer and Klezmer Basic Training and has led workshops and clinics on clarinet performance and klezmer music. In addition to his many recordings with the U.S. Army Field Band, he released two recordings with Lox & Vodka. He arranged and recorded music for the documentaries And Half a Day on Sunday and The Old Days and has recorded commercial and studio music for the Discovery Channel and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
