Kathie Van Lare Born and raised in Calgary, she has been teaching music in the Calgary area for more than 35 years, and though now retired, she continues to be active as a guest conductor and adjudicator throughout much of Western Canada for both concert and jazz bands. She also currently serves as the Musical Director for the Westwinds Music Society Gold Jazz South, the Westwinds Wind Orchestra and the Calgary Women’s Jazz Orchestra. 

Through her affiliation with Women Band Directors International -Alberta Chapter, Kathie also serves as Co-Organizer of "Girls in Jazz”, a program created in Calgary in 2023 to encourage and support women of ‘all ages and stages’ in furthering their study in jazz, with the ultimate goal of creating gender parity on professional jazz stages of the future.

Bands under Kathie’s direction have been the recipients of several local, provincial and international awards and she has been the recipient of various personal awards: Alberta Band Association’s “Elkhorn Award” as the Band Director of the Year; Alberta Band Association’s “Vondis Miller Legacy Award”; Laureate in John Philip Sousa Legion of Honour at the MidWest Band and Orchestra Conference in Chicago. Women Band Directors International, “Scroll of Excellence”; David Peterkin Award from the Phi Beta Mu Band Masters Fraternity; and an Honorary Lifetime Membership from the Alberta Band Association. 

Kathie continues to be active as a free-lance musician (trumpet) and has performed with many groups including among others, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Rocky Mountain Symphony Orchestra, Prime Time Big Band, Alberta Winds, and most-recently with the Calgary Jazz Orchestra and Altius Brass.

Besides music, Kathie enjoys woodworking, horseback riding and is an avid baseball fan. Go Cardinals!