Katie A. Berglof
Photo Caption: Katie plays on a Holton Merker, a horn developed by professional horn player Ethel Merker (b.1923 - d. 2012), one of the first and only women to have a signature horn designed and major production line named after her. That is extraordinarily rare and almost unheard of in brass instrument history.
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Katie A. Berglof is a founding board member of Unbound Symphony and serves as the personnel chair/manager. She is a widely recognized classical music journalist on symphony orchestra culture, institutional reform, and labor practices. Her work is distinguished by her advocacy for accountability, musician health and wellbeing, and fair labor rights within the classical music industry.
She is the founder of the orchestra journal Harpsichords & Hot Sauce and the founder of Courage Over Silence, a defense fund supporting musicians navigating harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. Her work in musician’s dystonia awareness has been particularly influential. Over the past decade, she has publicly documented her own recovery while advocating for stronger integration between music and medicine.
A lifelong musician, Katie’s background spans music performance as a French horn player, music education in both private and public school settings, arts administration, union representation, human resources, DEI, and community engagement. Her work reflects a holistic understanding of the musical ecosystem, shaped by experience across both artistic and institutional spaces.
She began her studies at the University of Northern Colorado and earned her Bachelor of Music in Horn Performance from the University of Northern Iowa. She later pursued post graduate and graduate studies in K–12 music education and arts administration and leadership at the University of Colorado Boulder and Seattle University. She also holds a certification in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion through the Human Resources Certification Institute.
Her professional experience spans performance, education, labor, and executive administration. She has held roles with Seattle Symphony in People and Culture, where she served as Office Administrator, Interim Executive Assistant to the President and CEO, and coordinated organizational COVID response efforts. During her tenure, she also proctored professional auditions and represented the organization on the Northwest Orchestra Gathering Steering Committee.
She later worked with International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), supporting advocacy for fair labor practices for performing arts stage technicians. Her additional experience includes roles with El Sistema Colorado and the University of Denver Newman Performing Arts Center, where she contributed to program support and community engagement initiatives.
Her national leadership includes service on the Advisory Council for the Arts Education Partnership, a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Education Commission of the States. She has also served on the Young Professionals Committee of the Performing Arts Medicine Association.