Performer-Composer Brian KM is a horn and electronics soloist with projects as varied as the medium is unique. With influences including Rachel K. Collier, Daft Punk, French-Acoustic-Folk, David Maslanka, and Julia Kent, Brian’s eclectic musical tastes shows throughout his own compositions.

Brian’s first solo horn and electronics show, Brian KM Live! was the product of a feverish dive into the world of electronic music. Brian performed his original compositions for the medium in over 80 venues in the United States, Australia, and Canada, delighting and intriguing his audiences. He has performed at four FRINGE Festival Events and was featured at The International Horn Society Conference in 2021, as well as The Boston New Music Initiative in 2022. One of his works received top prize for audience favorite choice in the Boston New Music Initiatve’s Prismatic Congruency series. Obsessed with bridge building, he ties his works into collaborations with photographers, writers, and voice actors.

Brian KM was appointed as the Principal Horn of the United States Navy’s “U.S. Pacific Fleet Band” in Pearl Harbor, Hawaiʻi. While serving in the Navy, he was a featured soloist and regular horn player for the organization’s premiere brass quintet, “Harbor Brass” and wind quintet, “Trade Winds”. During his five years of service in the United States Navy, Brian completed multiple international and domestic tours, providing musical support for hundreds of diplomatic, military, and outreach events. He participated in the Oʻahu Joint Military Service Band Concert in 2019, serving as principal horn for military members in the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Army, and National Guard. In 2018, he was selected to perform at the Midwest Band Conference as a member of a Navy-wide chamber ensemble. He received the National Medal of Arts “for personifying excellence in music and service to country”. He served as one of the United States Navy’s Sexual Assault Prevent and Response Victim Advocates, work that colors his artistic process and project selections.

Brian developed a taste for new music early in his career, performing with the EDGE New Music Ensemble at Shenandoah Conservatory. Since then, he has commissioned multiple new works for solo horn and various chamber groups, including a number of works for horn and saxophone, and has served as principal horn for the world premiere of many works for orchestra and band. 

Brian has had a rich career as a solo, chamber, and orchestral musician. He has served as principal horn in ensembles up and down the east coast United States. He is an active participant in the chamber music community wherever he lives. He is in demand as a lecturer and clinician, appearing to teach at Northwestern University, Michigan State University, The Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of North Carolina Grensboro, and more.

Brian received his undergraduate degree in Music Therapy along with a performance certificate from Shenandoah Conservatory and his Master’s Degree in Horn Performance from the University of Maryland. His principal teachers have been Janelle Ellis, William Zsembery, Joseph Lovinsky, and Gregory Miller.