Parker Gaims

Parker Gaims is a Washington D.C.-based clarinetist and composer. As a clarinetist, he has performed at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Wolf Trap, Strathmore, White House and other venues throughout the D.C. metropolitan area. Before living in D.C., Mr. Gaims had performed with the Chicago Chamber Musicians and served as the Bass Clarinet Teaching Assistant at the Brevard Music Festival in North Carolina. Mr. Gaims received his Bachelor of Music in clarinet performance from DePaul University in Chicago in 2011 and his Master of Music, also in clarinet performance, from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois in 2013. Gaims has been a clarinetist in “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band since September 2013. Mr. Gaims’ compositions have been performed by the Northwestern University Symphonic Wind Ensemble, DePaul University Wind Symphony, Northwestern Clarinet Faculty, DePaul Clarinet Faculty, pianist Winston Choi, and members of every D.C. service band. Two recent works were premiered at the 2016 International Clarinet Association conference in Lawrence, Kansas, one of which featured members of the Chicago, Atlanta, Minnesota, Indianapolis, Orlando, and Detroit Symphony Orchestras. He won the Kleinman Composition Competition in 2010. Mr. Gaims’ clarinet teachers include Steven Cohen, Julie DeRoche, Larry Combs, J. Lawrie Bloom, Wagner Campos, and Geoff Nudell. While at DePaul, Gaims studied composition with Drs. Kurt Westerberg and Fredrick Gifford. Mr. Gaims is a native of Los Angeles, California.

Neither “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, the U.S. Marine Corps nor any other component of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government has endorsed this material.