Description:

Katherine's focus is making a positive impact on the lives of others through music, no matter the genre or level of experience. She strives to be innovative and multi-disciplinary so as to be a more holistic collaborator and thinker. Trained as a classical musician, conductor, and pedagogue, she also has an extensive background as a singer-songwriter and a yoga and meditation instructor. Intersectional activism has become a bit of a focal point as she looks to the future and how she can positively impact the world.

An active performer and teacher, Katherine Marie Smith is Assistant Lecturer of Horn at the University of Wyoming, Fourth Horn of the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra, Principal Horn of the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra, former Second Horn of the Fort Collins Symphony, has served as guest Principal Horn of the Boulder Chamber Orchestra and Pro Musica Colorado, and has been active on the sublists of numerous orchestras around the country including the Colorado and Charlotte Symphony Orchestras and the Colorado Music Festival.

While pursuing her undergraduate degree with David Jolley at the Mannes College of Music in New York City, she had the privilege of performing with a wide variety of professional ensembles in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and Avery Fischer Hall. In 2005, while attending the North Carolina School of the Arts high school, Katherine was the winner of the Southeast Horn Workshop High School Solo Competition, and in 2009, she won the Columbia University Bach Society Concerto Competition. Katherine received her Master of Music degree from Northwestern University where she studied with Gail Williams and William Barnewitz.

After receiving her MM, Katherine was invited to play with the North Carolina Symphony as Assistant Principal/Utility Horn during their 2011-2012 season. Last season, Katherine had the opportunity to fill in last-minute as soloist with the Wyoming Symphony, and in May she performed in a hand-picked Brass and Percussion Ensemble of Northwestern University Alumni to commemorate the opening of their new music school. During the summer of 2016, she had the unique opportunity to tour the country and perform at Red Rocks Amphitheater with the indie folk singer-songwriter, Gregory Alan Isakov, and has since recorded and performed with several other indie folk artists, including Elephant Revival and Natalie Tate.

A self-proclaimed teaching addict, in addition to teaching at Casper College and UW, Katherine spent the 2013 spring semester as interim instructor of horn and was formerly a Doctor of Musical Arts in Horn Performance and Pedagogy candidate at the University of Colorado at Boulder where she studied with Michael Thornton. She has served on the faculty of several music camps and workshops, including Cannon Music Camp and two years with the CU Summer Music Academy.

Katherine has had the privilege of performing with dozens of different chamber ensembles including the award-winning wind quintet, 40th Parallel. Katherine is currently on the roster for Small Batch Chamber Concerts, a member of the Snowy Range Brass and the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra Brass and Woodwind Quintets, and performs regularly with chamber music groups throughout the area. She is incredibly thrilled to have the opportunity to perform in such a variety of ensembles while also actively exercising her teaching skills in beautiful Wyoming and Colorado.

As a new addition to her musical career, she has also taken up writing, recording, editing, and mixing custom songs through a company called Gifting Pride. You can check it out at www.giftingpride.com