Catherine (Katie) was born and raised in Northern Maine, and during that time discovered that music made her very happy.  She started out as a clarinet player, playing principal in her high school band, and in the community band which was her summer job for the next five years.  Katie attended the University of Maine where she received a Bachelor of Music Education with honors, and then attended the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where she received a Master of Music in Oboe Performance.  Since then she has studied with several major teachers including Laurence Thorstenberg and Thomas Stacy.  

 

Katie taught for 35 years in the Worcester Public Schools as an instrumental instructor and has been teaching at Thayer Conservatory since 1985.  She has played professionally in the Worcester and Boston areas.  Katie loves passing on to her students the many things that she has learned in her career and watching them develop both as musicians and as people.

 

Fun fact: Ms Tibbit is a direct descendent of Suzannah North Martin, one of the Salem witches.  In her spare time she loves gardening, baking and cats.

Mikayla White is a flute, piccolo, and saxophone player whose love of instrumental music began in her school band in Wakefield, MA. She has since gone on to receive her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Massachusetts Lowell for Music Education in 2020 and 2022. In her time at UMass Lowell, she performed as a flute and piccolo player in the Wind Ensemble which she has continued to perform in as an alumni. Her participation in band at the university led to her becoming a flute instructor at UMass Lowell’s Mary Jo Leahy Symphonic Band Camp for high school band students with whom she performed at Boston’s Symphony Hall. Outside of the university, she also enjoys playing the saxophone in a local community summer band. 

 

Mikayla is currently an elementary band instructor for 4th and 5th grade students in the Westford Public School system where she teaches beginner flute, clarinet, alto saxophone trumpet, and trombone. She has also been teaching private flute lessons for 4 years with a range of beginning to advanced students of all ages. The thing that Mikayla enjoys most about teaching music is helping her students to achieve their goals and seeing the growth of confidence in their abilities as they learn. 

 

Fun fact: Mikayla very much enjoys crafting. In her free time, she can often be found making jewelry for herself and others or knitting another scarf to add to her collection.