Quinn Walker is a Portland-based trumpet player, composer, arranger, bandleader, and jazz educator whose work spans contemporary jazz, large ensemble music, and Latin music. Quinn consistently performs and collaborates with a variety of bands in the Pacific Northwest. He also loves leading his own projects, including the Quinn Walker Quartet and bigSMALLband, an eight-piece ensemble that features his original compositions and arrangements.

As a performer, Quinn regularly works with myriad groups including the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble, Conjunto Alegre, Barrio Mestizo, and Pa’lante. He has shared the stage with many of the region’s leading musicians, including Chuck Israels and the Chuck Israels Jazz Orchestra, Bobby Torres, Julana Torres, Ezra Weiss, Nathaniel Ankeny, Randy Porter, George Colligan, Charlie Doggett, Joe Manis, Dan Gaynor, Steve Owen, and Dave Captein.

With respect to his composing and arranging, Quinn’s writing draws from the traditions of jazz, while exploring contemporary harmonic, rhythmic, and stylistic influences. His compositions and arrangements have been featured on projects with the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble and performed by groups throughout the region. His work as an arranger has also taken him beyond the Pacific Northwest; in 2022, award-winning drummer and bandleader Ulysses Owens Jr. presented Quinn’s arrangements during a week-long residency at Dizzy’s Club in New York City. Quinn’s big band composition entitled “Jinkx” was also featured on Grant High School’s 2026 Oregon Jazz Championships state championship-winning set. As a freelance arranger, he works across genres, including jazz, pop, and Latin music, and writes for various ensembles, ranging from small groups to large bands.

Quinn is equally committed to music education and to creating opportunities for young musicians to experience jazz as a living, creative art form. He received his Bachelor’s in Music Performance from Portland State University in 2019, and completed his Master’s in Music Performance at the University of Oregon in 2022. Currently, Quinn teaches at Portland State University, Mt. Hood Community College, and Clackamas Community College, leads the jazz program at Mount Tabor Middle School through the Montavilla Jazz Festival education program, works with local high school jazz programs, and maintains a private trumpet studio.

Via his work as a musician, composer, and educator, Quinn is dedicated to building community through music, by connecting the history and traditions of jazz with the curiosity, creativity, and energy of the present.