In Loving memory

Jim Kowalsky started playing trumpet when he was in the 8th grade in Two Rivers, WI. During his senior year of high school, he got to hear the Chicago Brass play, which - at that time - included the legendary trumpeter Bud Herseth, and tuba player Arnold Jacobs. Even decades later, Jim would talk with reverence about that performance. While earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music performance from the University of WI, Madison, he went on to study under both Herseth and Jacobs, and loved to share stories from his experiences with them.

Jim played professionally in the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, taught at Union College in KY, St. Cloud University in MN, and at numerous other public schools and colleges. He moved to Fairbanks in 1971, where he and his wife Suzanne would raise three children, and Jim would serve for 44 seasons as the principal and associate principal trumpet with the Fairbanks Symphony and Arctic Chamber Orchestras. During his 30 tours with the ACO, the group visited more than 100 villages, sometimes traveling on boats, seaplanes, and even dogsleds so that rural Alaskans could have the opportunity to experience live performances of classical music. 

Jim was also a passionate advocate for wildlife and the environment. He was part of the group that founded the Fairbanks Environmental Center (now called the Northern Alaska Environmental Center), and was its first executive director. He served as the Alaska field representative for Friends of the Earth, and worked as the director of the Tanana Chiefs Conference Dept of Wildlife and Parks. After TCC, Jim went on to spend nearly 20 years as the director of RAHI - the summer Rural Alaska Honors Institute at UAF, and to serve as the director of Adult Learning Programs of Alaska. 

It was an honor and privilege for the Fairbanks Community Band to have counted Jim Kowalsky as one of its members. His impact on all of the communities he participated within was huge - ours included - and he is missed by many every single day.