Katharine Reed

Katharine Reed is the recently appointed director of athletic bands and lecturer in wind studies at the University of North Texas. In this role, she serves as director of the Green Brigade Marching Band, conducts the Wind Ensemble and teaches Symphonic Literature for the Wind Band. Reed previously served as a doctoral teaching fellow and graduate coordinator of wind studies at UNT while pursuing her doctorate in wind conducting. As a doctoral teaching fellow, she taught Fundamentals of Conducting and conducted the Concert and Symphonic Winds ensembles. Her principal conducting teachers at UNT include Eugene Migliaro Corporon, Andrew Trachsel and Amy Woody. 

A proud fourth-generation band director, Reed has built a career as a conductor and music educator committed to excellence in performance, teaching and program development. She has conducted numerous honor bands and served as a guest clinician throughout Iowa, Alabama, Colorado and Ohio. Before joining the UNT faculty, she served as director of bands at Hudson High School in Hudson, Ohio, where the school's Wind Symphony qualified for and performed at Ohio's State Concert Band Festival for the first time in program history. Previously, Reed served as director of bands at Durango High School in Durango, Colorado. Under her direction, the program's student enrollment grew 600%, with ensembles earning consistent Superior "I" ratings, qualifying for the Colorado State Concert Band Festival for the first time in school history, advancing as Class 3A finalists in the Colorado State Marching Band Competition and winning the Fort Lewis College Jazz Festival. Reed also served as a sabbatical replacement at Fort Lewis College, where she conducted the concert band and taught instrumental music methods to music majors. 

Reed has been recognized for excellence in teaching and leadership throughout her career. Her honors include the UNT Faculty Senate's Outstanding Teaching Fellows/Teaching Assistants Award; Graduate Student of the Year from the University of Akron; and Teacher of the Year (twice), Coach of the Year and the Legacy Award from Durango High School. She was a two-time quarterfinalist for the Grammy Music Educator Award and an invited clinician at the 2018 Colorado Bandmasters Association Conference, where she presented "Small Band Building Blocks." 

Reed holds a bachelor's degree in instrumental K-12 music education from Iowa State University, where she studied conducting with Michael Golemo and Matthew Smith, and a master's degree in wind conducting from the University of Akron, where she studied with Galen S. Karriker and Andrew Feyes. She is in the final stages of completing her doctorate in wind conducting at the University of North Texas. 

Reed lives in Fort Worth, Texas, with her husband, Marc Reed, director of the School of Music at Texas Christian University; their children, and their Vizsla, Ruby.  

Edited - 9.23.26

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