About

Katherine Phillips is a passionate hornist and educator and is the assistant principal/utility horn of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. As a part of her orchestral responsibilities, she is a part of the Tucson Symphony Brass Quintet. She won this position in September 2025 while in her 2nd year of her Master's degree at Arizona State University.

Originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, she began studying with Thomas Hundemer from 2016-2020. She then graduated with her undergraduate degree in Music Performance from the University of Louisiana-Monroe in 2024 where she studied with Dr. James Boldin. Once she graduated from the University of Louisiana-Monroe, she went on to complete her Master's degree in Music Performance at Arizona State University. She studied with Dr. John Ericson and served as his graduate teaching assistant from 2024-2026. 

In November 2024, she won the 3rd horn position of the West Valley Symphony in Surprise, Arizona. Less than a year later she won her current position as Assistant Principal/Utility Horn of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in September 2025, where she continues to perform today. Along with her current position as Assistant Principal/Utility Horn she also serves in the Tucson Symphony Orchestra brass quintet where she actively performs in outreach shows for students in public schools in the Tucson area. 

Before moving to Arizona, Katherine maintained an active freelance career performing in ensembles such as the Monroe Symphony Orchestra, Rapides Symphony Orchestra, South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Marshall Symphony Orchestra. While in Arizona she has performed with the Arizona MusicFest Orchestra, the Women's Orchestra of Arizona, and the Arizona Opera. Most recently she had the opportunity to perform with the American Institute of Musical Studies Festival Orchestra in Graz, Austria. 

While at Arizona State University as a part of her responsibilities as the graduate teaching assistant, she was able to teach private lessons to music majors and minors as well as teaching the brass methods course and leading studio class. In Phoenix, she was actively teaching private students before moving to Tucson where she currently resides. In June 2026, she was a guest teacher for chamber music groups for the Scottsdale Philharmonic Orchestra for the first annual Arizona Chamber Music Weekend. In September 2026, she gave a presentation about audition preparation at the University of Louisiana Monroe and is expected to give masterclass at Arizona State University in November 2026.

Katherine has also performed in various symposiums and horn workshops including the International Horn Symposium in July 2022, the SouthEast Horn Workshop in February 2024 both with the University of Louisiana-Monroe Horn Ensemble and Horn Quartet. She performed as a soloist with the Kendall Betts Horn Camp (now known as the Cormont Horn Camp) in June 2023. She has performed as a soloist in masterclasses for guest artists including Drs. Stacie Mickens, Matthew Renyolds, Katey Jahnke, Heidi Lucas, Mr. Brett Hodge, Gabriel Kovach, and John Logan.