Kathleen Carter Bell

Dr. Kathleen Carter Bell is a dynamic educator and performer, currently serving as Assistant Professor of Oboe at West Texas A&M University. She holds positions with both the Amarillo Symphony (English Horn) and the Lubbock Symphony (Principal Oboe), and is on faculty at the Interlochen Arts Camp and Indiana University’s Summer Music Clinic. In Fall 2025, Kathleen was appointed Artistic Director of Chamber Music Amarillo, where she also performs regularly.

 

A passionate chamber musician and soloist, Kathleen has performed across the U.S. and internationally. In 2019, she was nominated as Indiana University’s first Seoul National University Chamber Music Festival performer. Her trio, Elicio Winds, has received multiple grants for commissioning and recording projects, including their 2023 album Convergence: Music and Cultural Legacy. Recent solo and chamber performances include the National Flute Association Conference (Chicago), the College Music Society National Conference (Rochester, Miami, and Washington D.C.), the International Double Reed Society Conference (Boulder and Flagstaff), the International Clarinet Association Conference (Denver), the Music by Women Festival (Mississippi) and the SHE Festival (Arkansas). 

 

As a dedicated educator, Kathleen’s primary teaching goal is to foster independent musicians who have strong convictions about what they want to say musically and the necessary skills to share those ideas in inspiring performances. To this end, she has devised a comprehensive four-year curriculum which focuses on honing fundamentals, an objective approach to reed-making, and informed preparation of repertoire. Students in her collegiate and high school studios have been accepted to top universities and summer festivals.  Prior to relocating to Texas, Kathleen served as Instructor of Oboe and English Horn at Tennessee State University and as Oboe Lecturer at Auburn University. Kathleen gives masterclasses nationwide and regularly presents at major conferences such as TMEA, The Midwest Clinic, the College Music Society, and the International Double Reed Society. Together with her husband, bassoonist Conor Bell, she launched the “Double Talk Workshop,” providing double reed resources to teachers. Her pedagogical writing has appeared in Ala Breve and The Tennessee Musician, and in 2024 she was named Review Editor for the International Alliance for Women in Music Journal. Kathleen also serves as Secretary for the International Double Reed Society’s Midsouth Chapter.

 

A committed advocate for new music, Kathleen has collaborated with many composers to commission and premiere original works. Her doctoral dissertation was commended by Indiana University as a “Dissertation of High Distinction.” She holds DM, MM, and PD degrees from Indiana University and a BM from Baldwin Wallace Conservatory. In 2012, she was awarded the prestigious Barbara and David H. Jacobs Fellowship for “excellence and leadership in the world of music.”

 

When not playing the oboe, Kathleen enjoys spending time with her husband, bassoonist Conor Bell, and their son Liam, as well as traveling, reading, and painting.