Bill Kalinkos

clarinet, sax

billkalinkos@alarmwillsound.com

I was born and raised in Flushing, Queens, the oldest of 4 kids. My earliest musical experience was in the first grade at Public School #163 playing the recorder in music class. Our teacher was a jazz musician. He gave us a demonstration on the flute, clarinet, and saxophone. For some reason, I was drawn to the clarinet and began playing in the third grade when my hands weren't even big enough to reach all of the keys.

I have no idea how I gained an interest in classical music - my parents' musical icons were the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers, and the like. By the time I reached high school, I had decided that I wanted to be a musician. During my time at Eastman, I developed a deep affinity for all types of contemporary music, ever since my first Musica Nova concert where we played Xenakis' Anaktoria. I feel privileged to have been surrounded by inspiring musicians while I was at Eastman, and afterwards, as a member of AWS.

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