July 10, 1947 – May 14, 2013
A memorial service for will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, November 9 at St. John the Evangelist, 1661 15th Street, San Francisco. Walker packed many lives into his 65 years, most of them devoted to music. He studied at Oberlin, the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, and UC Berkeley, where he earned a Ph.D. in musicology. As an organist and harpsichordist, Walker played widely in solo, chamber music, and symphonic concerts in this country and in Europe. Walker shared top honors at the Hofhaimer Competition in Innsbruck, Austria, and received the University of California's prestigious Eisner Prize for Creative Achievement.
Walker wrote The Keyboard Music of John Bull and recorded a critically acclaimed CD on the organ at St. John the Evangelist. He served as the much-beloved music director of St Mark's Episcopal Church in Berkeley. Thanks to great doctors and Walker's brilliant mind, he survived 29 years of HIV. When AIDS forced him to retire from performing, Walker mastered yet another career as technical editor and writer at Cisco Systems. He spoke French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. His death leaves the world a less interesting place, especially for his sister, Joy Cunningham, of Austin, Texas.