Biography

Musician 1st Class Donovan Klutho, from Bettendorf, Iowa, joined the U.S. Navy Band as a tuba instrumentalist in 2024. Prior to winning a position with the Navy Band in Washington, D.C., Klutho was a fleet musician assigned to Navy Band Northwest in Silverdale, Washington. At Navy Band Northeast he often played sousaphone with the New Orleans style Brass Band and had the opportunity to travel and perform with the ensemble in Juneau, Alaska, for the Juneau Maritime Festival and Jazz Festival, as well as Spokane, Washington, Fleet Week. Before enlisting in the Navy, Klutho received a Bachelor of Music in tuba performance and a Bachelor of Arts in music technology from the University of Northern Iowa. There, he studied tuba with Jesse Orth and Stephanie Ycaza, and bass trombone with Anthony Williams. He completed a Master of Music in tuba performance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music with Timothy Northcut. In addition to his academic studies, he attended the Rafael Mendez Brass Institute in 2019, the Round Top Music Festival in 2022, competed in the student tuba division of the Leonard Falcone International Tuba-Euphonium competition in 2018, and performed with the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra in 2022.