Katie Gilchrist currently serves as the Co-Director of Instrumental Music at Palo Alto High School, where she leads the school’s band program and assists with the orchestra program. She is in her ninth year of teaching and previously taught in the Santa Clara Unified School District and East Side Union High School District. Katie holds a Master’s degree in Music Education from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education with an emphasis in saxophone from San Jose State University.

Katie is deeply involved with music education at both the regional and state levels. In 2024, she received the Gilbert T. Freitas Outstanding Band Educator Award from CMEA Bay Section, as well as the 2023–2024 Outstanding Teacher Award from the Peterson Middle School PTSA. She currently serves as the California All-State Honor Ensemble Coordinator and Secretary of the Santa Clara County Band Directors Association. She has previously served on the CMEA Bay Section Board, CMEA State Collegiate Council, and California Band Directors Association Board.

In addition to her work in music education, Katie is deeply involved in the marching arts throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. She has served as music and visual staff for numerous high school marching programs in the South Bay and as a visual technician for the Vanguard Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps. She currently serves on the staff of the Monta Vista–Lynbrook High School marching band. Katie was also a member of the Vanguard Cadets, marching baritone and mellophone in 2014, 2015, and 2017.