Schedule of Events

Artist Biographies

Katie Johnson-Webb

Katie Johnson-Webb is the Associate Professor of Horn at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She excels as a flexible, thoughtful, and active performer of solo repertoire, chamber music, and orchestral literature. In past years, Katie was selected to perform with the Aspen Summer Music Festival in Aspen, Colorado, the Kent/Blossom Music Festival in Kent, Ohio, and the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge, Colorado. She frequently joins the horn section of the Knoxville Symphony.

As a soloist, she has been heard in recitals at the 2018 International Horn Symposium at Ball State University, the 2016 International Horn Symposium at Ithaca College, and the 2015 International Horn Symposium at the Colburn School. Additionally, she has given recitals and masterclasses at universities across the United States and Canada. Johnson-Webb can been heard with pianist Kirstin Ihde on her CD, La Loba, which was released on the Summit Brass label.

As an active chamber musician, Johnson-Webb is a member of the Tennessee Brass Quintet and a founding member of the Cobalt Horn Quartet, winners of the 2018 International Horn Society Horn Quartet Competition – Professional Division.

She has presented research on incorporating ear training in private teaching at the 2015 Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, IL. She has presented similar lectures at the 2017 and 2016 Southeast Horn Workshops and the 2015 Northeast Horn Workshop.

Johnson-Webb completed her undergraduate studies in music and political science at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana. She completed the Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. While completing the Master of Music degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she was awarded a Bolz Fellowship. In 2018, she was awarded a grant from the American Scandinavian Foundation to collaborate with Norwegian hornist and pedagogue, Frøydis Ree Wekre in Oslo, Norway.

Jena Gardner

Jena Gardner, DMA, is the Assistant Professor of Horn at Western Illinois University. She is also the advisor for WIU’s music performance majors and the director of the WIU Community Music School. In addition to teaching, she is an active soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player throughout the state of Illinois and the United States. Dr. Gardner has performed extensively around the world including tours in Europe, Mexico, Japan, and the United States. She has been a guest section member with the Chicago Lyric Opera, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Intercontemporain, the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, Steamboat Springs Festival Orchestra horn sections and was acting 2nd and 4th horn of the Louisiana Philharmonic orchestra for the 2012 and 2013 seasons respectively.

Dr. Gardner is a passionate chamber musician and can be heard performing with the faculty ensembles at WIU: the Camerata Woodwind Quintet and the Lamoine Brass Quintet .. She is one of four horn players in the Cobalt Quartet, professional division winners of the 2018 International Horn Society’s Horn Quartet Competition. The Cobalt Quartet performs regularly at international conferences and universities across the United States. From 2010-2015 she was a member of the Arabesque Winds. With that ensemble, she performed concerts and master classes at the University of Madison, Wisconsin, the Sanibel Music Festival, the Wooster Chamber Music Festival and many others.

In 2021, Dr. Gardner was awarded a summer research stipend by the Western Illinois University Foundation and the Office of Sponsored Projects. The project, Overuse Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation in Brass Pedagogy, was presented at the International Horn Society’s 53rd international conference. In addition to this lecture and article on the same topic, Dr. Gardner received a certification in the Essentials of Performing Arts Medicine and now curates the website BrassInjury.com, providing a number of resources to musicians, students, and educators. As an educator and performer, Dr. Gardner is interested in a holistic philosophy of music performance. She frequently integrates anatomy, wellness, and other special topics into her horn pedagogy.

As a recipient of the Early Music America Summer Study Scholarship in 2016, Dr. Gardner attended the Natural Horn Workshop at Indiana University, studying with Dr. Richard Seraphinoff. Previously, she has participated in the Lucerne Festival Academy, the Youth Orchestras of America, New York String Orchestra Seminar, and the Pacific Music Festival. From 2007-09, Dr. Gardner was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and had the privilege to perform under the batons of Bernard Haitink, Pierre Boulez, Mark Elder, Esa-pekka Salonen and many others.

Dr. Gardner completed a Doctor of Musical Arts at Northwestern University under the guidance of Gail Williams and Jon Boen and was involved in presenting the 2016 and 2017 Peak Performance Horn Symposiums. She holds Masters and Bachelors degrees in horn performance from Carnegie Mellon University and Northwestern University respectively. Her principal teachers have included Gail Williams, Jon Boen, Bill Caballero, Dave Krehbiel, and Jennie Blomster.