Katharine Reed

Katharine Reed is Lecturer of Wind Studies and Director of Athletic Band at the University of North Texas where she is  completing a Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Conducting. She is a proud fourth-generation band director who most recently served as director of bands at Hudson High School in Hudson, Ohio. At Hudson, she directed the Hudson High School Swing Marching Band and Wind Symphony and oversaw all aspects of a vibrant AA-sized Ohio program. Under her tutelage, the HHS Wind Symphony qualified and performed at Ohio's State Concert Band Festival for the first time in program history. 

Prior to her time in Ohio, Reed was director of bands at Durango High School in Durango, Colorado, where she oversaw the marching band, wind ensemble, symphonic band and jazz ensembles, and taught courses in music theory and piano. Her DHS ensembles received straight Superior "I" ratings, were selected for the Colorado State Concert Band Festival (top 20 concert bands in the state) for the first time in school history, and were a Class 3A finalist (top four) in the Colorado State Marching Band Competition. They also won the Fort Lewis College Jazz Festival, receiving the Outstanding High School Jazz Band Award, which earned them the opportunity to open for Delfeayo Marsalis. The DHS Red Pride Marching Band performed at the 2014 Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas, and several students were selected for the Colorado All-State Band and Jazz Band. The band program grew exponentially during her tenure in Durango, from 15 to more than 120 students. Reed also spent one semester as a sabbatical replacement at Fort Lewis College, where she conducted the concert band and taught instrumental music methods to music majors. 

Reed has received several awards: most recently, the University of North Texas Faculty Senate named her the 2025–2026 Outstanding Teaching Fellow/Teaching Assistant;  Graduate Student of the Year (University of Akron); Teacher of the Year (twice, DHS); Coach of the Year (DHS); and the Legacy Award (DHS), presented by her superintendent upon her departure from Durango. She was a two-time quarterfinalist for the Grammy Music Educator Award and was an invited clinician at the 2018 Colorado Bandmasters Association Conference, presenting a clinic titled "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 conducting with Galen S. Karriker and Andrew Feyes. She resides in Fort Worth, Texas, with her husband, Marc Reed, director of the School of Music at Texas Christian University, and children.