Education
- D.M.A., Temple University, 2020
- A.D., Yale University, 2007
- M.M., University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, 2005
- B.M., University of Michigan, 2002
Katy Ambrose is assistant professor of music in horn at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
She previously was faculty at the University of Iowa and taught at the University of Virginia. During summers, she teaches at the Bay View Music Festival Brass Seminar in Petoskey, Michigan, and will be on faculty for the Interlochen Horn Intensive in June 2026.
An avid chamber musician, Ambrose is a member of Mirari Brass Quintet, Lanta Horn Duo, and Conica natural horn quartet and was a founding member of Seraph Brass. She has been featured at the International Women’s Brass Conference, Virginia Arts Festival, Historic Brass Society, and the International Trombone Festival and is a regular performer and presenter for the International Horn Society (IHS). She was recently elected to the advisory board of the IHS and serves on the editorial committee for its journal, The Horn Call.
Ambrose has held orchestral positions with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, Charlottesville Symphony Orchestra, Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra, Northeast Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Albany Symphony Orchestra, and Lexington Philharmonic. She has also performed as a substitute with numerous orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Pops, Kansas City Symphony Orchestra, Daejeon Philharmonic (South Korea), Richmond Symphony, and the Virginia Symphony. She has performed on natural horn with Philharmonie Austin, Madison Bach Musicians, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Washington Bach Consort, and Staunton Music Festival. Outside of orchestral music, her favorite memories are performing with Adele on her 2016 world tour and recording jingles for the Super Bowl.
Ambrose has been named a University of Iowa “Champion for Student Success” three times, a student-nominated honor, and is a 2025-26 research fellow at the George Washington Presidential Library, where she is studying the musical life of Washington’s enslaved huntsman, William Lee.
She resides in Bloomington with her husband, Carsten, a software engineer and amateur violinist, their nine-year-old twin sons, and their cat, Milo.