Jazz clarinetist and saxophone player Ken Peplowski died Feb. 2, 2026, at the age of 66. He was on The Jazz Cruise in the Gulf of Mexico, where he was a performer.

Peplowski was well-known in the Oregon jazz scene. He served as music director for the Oregon Coast Jazz Party in Newport. He was also a music director for the Oregon Festival of American Music in Eugene from 2007 through 2014.

“Ken Peplowski was a virtuoso jazz clarinetist whose music moved audiences worldwide. I first met Ken when he was the musical director of the Oregon Festival of American Music,” said Carl Woideck, jazz musician, scholar and host of KLCC’s The Soul of Jazz.

“When we had coffee, we talked about the Beatles and Bob Dylan as much as about jazz. Whether playing at the Oregon Coast Jazz party last October, or in at New York’s Birdland this past December, he gave his all in every setting,” Woideck added.

Jim Ralph is executive director of The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts in Eugene.

“We always felt totally blessed having Ken around,” he said. “He played magnificently and was a pleasure to develop festivals with. Ken’s contributions to OFAM meant a lot to our now decades-long exploration, articulation and championship of the entire complex of “American Music” and how to present multiple-genres without compromising any of them. We will surely miss him.”

No cause of death has been released at this time, but Peplowski was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2021.

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/02/05/ken-peplowski-music-director-oregon-coast-jazz-party/