“We need to plant seeds for all the ways a music career might grow — even ones we can’t yet imagine.”
I had the pleasure of talking with Kate Sheeran. Kate, an accomplished horn player and experienced arts administrator, currently serves as the Joan and Martin Messinger Dean of the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. A native of rural Vermont and an alumna of Eastman herself, Sheeran is the first woman to lead the prestigious institution — one of the nation’s top conservatories, originally founded in 1921 by Kodak magnate George Eastman.
Her career in music began in earnest during her school years, when a supportive public school system and committed parents nurtured her early interest in French horn. A formative summer at Kinhaven Music School, a chamber music camp in Vermont, proved pivotal. Immersed in ensemble playing and surrounded by fellow young musicians from around the country, Sheeran recognized music not only as a personal passion but as a lifelong path. That realization led her to pursue a degree at Eastman, followed by graduate studies at Yale School of Music.
Sheeran’s trajectory since then has blended performance, education, and leadership. Before returning to Eastman, she held top posts at several arts institutions. She was Executive Director of Kaufman Music Center in New York City, where she helped guide the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic with initiatives like Musical Storefronts — an effort that brought more than 130 live concerts to streets and communities across the city at a time when most venues remained closed. She previously served as Provost and Dean of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, helping expand curricular offerings and forge cross-disciplinary collaborations.
Appointed Dean of Eastman in July 2024, Sheeran took on what she calls the most challenging and rewarding role of her career. Her work now involves not only managing the day-to-day operations of the school but also setting a vision for its future. She sees Eastman’s place within a major research university as a strategic advantage, enabling new partnerships that extend beyond traditional conservatory boundaries. Under her leadership, the school is expanding interdisciplinary initiatives with the University of Rochester’s Hajim School of Engineering and the Medical Center, including the recent hiring of Eastman’s first research professor in music and medicine.
These collaborations reflect a broader effort to position the school — and music itself — within a rapidly changing world. While Sheeran remains grounded in the tradition of rigorous musical training, she is also focused on preparing students for a dynamic and evolving professional landscape. “Eastman alumni are not just performers,” she notes. “They’re teachers, composers, scholars, public school educators, and entrepreneurs. We need to plant seeds for all the ways a music career might grow — even ones we can’t yet imagine.”
Her approach to education is both strategic and deeply personal. Having benefited from a network of peers and mentors herself, Sheeran emphasizes community and connection in the student experience. She often cites her longtime friendship with John Pickford Richards, a fellow Eastman graduate and founding member of the JACK Quartet, as an example of how lifelong artistic and professional relationships can help shape a career.
Even as she helps chart a forward-looking path for Eastman, Sheeran remains attuned to the school’s century-long legacy. She references the worn marble staircase in Eastman’s main hall as a metaphor for the lineage of musicians who have come before — and those still to come. “That’s part of the legacy,” she says. “You feel supported by the people who’ve come before you, and it’s our job to figure out how we honor those traditions while also shaping the future of the school.”
Outside of institutional leadership, Sheeran maintains active ties to the broader musical and nonprofit communities. She has been involved with organizations such as Kinhaven Music School, Alarm Will Sound, and the Lincoln Square Business Improvement District, and she currently serves on the board of the JACK Quartet. These affiliations reflect her commitment to music not only as an academic pursuit, but as a public good.
As an advocate for arts education, Sheeran is outspoken about the need to protect and expand music programs, particularly in public schools. She points to clear research supporting music’s role in academic achievement and personal development. “There are real, measurable benefits,” she says, “but we also can’t lose sight of the simple fact that music brings joy, comfort, and meaning. That’s reason enough.”
Sheeran is also a thoughtful commentator on the evolving relationship between music and technology, including the rise of artificial intelligence in composition and production. While she acknowledges the disruptions such tools may bring, she emphasizes the continuing value of human creativity and expression. “It’s not as good as the real thing,” she says, referring to AI-generated music. “But we can and should understand the technology, so we can harness it in ways that serve music education and creation.”
Throughout her career, Sheeran has maintained a pragmatic yet hopeful outlook on professional development. She often advises young musicians to take risks, embrace imperfect opportunities, and build strong peer networks. “You don’t have to know exactly what you’re doing yet,” she tells students. “You just have to know your next step — and trust that something will lead to something else.”
In her current role, she leads a student body of approximately 900 in the collegiate division, along with nearly 2,000 learners, of all ages, in the Eastman Community Music School. Her mission, she says, is to ensure that music education remains accessible, relevant, and enduring. “If I could inspire any movement,” she says, “it would be to make robust, meaningful music education available to every child in this country — whether or not they grow up to be musicians. Because it changes lives.”
Yitzi: It’s an honor to meet you. Before we dive in deep, our readers would love to learn about your personal origin story. Can you share the story of your childhood and how you grew up?
Kate: Sure. I’m from a tiny town in Vermont. I grew up there and got interested in music in public school. My parents were really supportive — they were willing to drive me around when I started playing the French horn and got involved in ensembles, camps, and things like that. By the time I finished high school, I knew music was for me. So I applied to the Eastman School of Music, where I did my undergrad and had a great experience. Then I went to graduate school at Yale and, through kind of a twisty, turny path, I ended up getting more involved in leadership roles along with performance and teaching. That path is really what led me to where I am now.
Yitzi: Can you share a story about how you first started in music?
Kate: Well, I say now that it takes a long time to raise a musician, right? So it’s really a mix of early stories of learning music and how that grew into my career. But when I was 16, I went to a camp called Kinhaven for the first time. It’s a chamber music camp and orchestra in Vermont, near where I lived. Most of the students came from all over the country — and even some from around the world. For me, it was the first time I was totally immersed in music. Everyone was singing the same chorals and madrigals, playing in ensembles, learning all these new pieces, and getting to know people I never would have met otherwise. It was one of those times where you realize, “If my world can be more like this — if this is what a career in music can feel like — then this is it for me.” So I think that summer was definitely one of the defining moments for me.
Yitzi: Amazing story. I’m sure you have so many incredible stories from your career and from your leadership at Eastman. Can you share one or two stories from your professional life and give our readers a sense of what you do?
Kate: Of what I do now? Well, on a day-to-day basis, I oversee everything related to the Eastman School of Music. It’s a school in its own right, but we’re also part of a large research university — the University of Rochester. A lot of my work involves collaborating with faculty, staff, and students to make music every day, but my focus is really on the future. Where are we going, how do we get there, and what can we do that’s truly unique — what can we do best?
One of the reasons I came back to Rochester and to Eastman, after graduating many years ago, is because the questions we’re able to ask and answer as a music school within a research university can actually help influence the broader field of music. We can help make it stronger and more sustainable through collaborations with fields like medicine, neuroscience, engineering, and audio engineering. There are so many ways we can use research not only to prove the value of our art form, but also to move it forward in exciting ways — embracing technology while still staying grounded in what we already do so well here: performing, teaching, composing, and advancing scholarship at the highest level.
Yitzi: Excellent. It’s been said that sometimes our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Do you have a story about a humorous mistake you made when you were first starting out — maybe when you were learning to play — and what you learned from it?
Kate: Oh, I have a lot — because I play the French horn. French horn players are kind of known for this! The instrument itself is a little slippery. The partials are really close together as you go higher up, so you have to go for things boldly. But at the same time, you have to be humble, because mistakes are just part of it.
I joke that playing the French horn is good training to be a dean, but honestly, it’s true. You have to be both bold and humble. You can’t accomplish anything big without working with a whole team of people, and that’s where humility and empathy are so important. But at the same time, you’ve got to take risks and step forward with confidence. So while I could probably think of plenty of specific mistakes I’ve made, that overall lesson — being bold but staying humble — is one that’s stuck with me.
Yitzi: None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Do you have a particular person who made a profound impact on your professional life, and could you share a story?
Kate: You know, partly because of the programs and schools I went to, I’ve been really lucky. The personal and professional relationships I’ve built as a musician have supported me in every corner of my life — both as friendships and collaborations.
Someone who comes to mind is my good friend John Pickford Richards. He was my classmate at Eastman, and he’s a violist. He founded the JACK Quartet, which now tours all over the world playing brand-new music. They commission new works from composers all the time and are really shaping the future of contemporary classical music.
I think of my friendship with him as an example of what it means to have peers who are cheering you on for your whole life — people who really see you. The ensemble he created is such a reflection of who he is, and I remember when he first came up with the idea. Now I serve on the board of that organization. He’s helped me many times in my career, and our relationship has shown me how important those peer connections are. As we’ve grown up and grown into our careers, those relationships have remained so meaningful.
Yitzi: What has been the most challenging project you’ve taken on so far, and why? What made it challenging?
Kate: I think being Dean of the Eastman School of Music is the most challenging project I’ve taken on. What’s challenging is that, as I move further in my career, the institutions I lead keep getting larger — and with that, the challenges grow, too.
Every time and place brings its own set of circumstances, but in this case, Eastman is the largest institution I’ve led, and it’s my first year in the role. So while it might not necessarily feel easier later on, it’ll start to feel more familiar.
There’s also a unique element here because I’m an alum of the school. That brings a sense of pride but also an extra layer of complexity. I’m navigating all kinds of waters — some familiar, some totally new. I’ve been learning the university as a whole, figuring out where the opportunities are, understanding the school’s strengths, and identifying where we can grow.
It’s a big challenge, but it’s also one I love. I really feel the weight of the responsibility because our mission is to help students get an education that will serve them for life. I know how important that is — because that’s what Eastman did for me. So yes, it’s the biggest challenge so far, but it’s also my favorite.
Yitzi: So you have so much impressive work. Can you share with our readers the exciting initiatives or projects you’re working on or introducing now? And what do you see yourself working on in the near future?
Kate: Yeah, so a lot of this year is a learning year for me. I can’t say exactly what’s going to happen — because if I said I had it all figured out nine months in, no one should trust me! But some of the themes and projects I hope we can build upon and move forward include these collaborative elements. We’re working with the Hajim School of Engineering here, building more bridges between music and technology.
We also have a really interesting collaboration with our Medical Center called Eastman Performing Arts Medicine. We’re hiring our first research professor in Music and Medicine, who will be looking at the neuroscience of music and we are also working on initiatives focused on physical health for musicians — things like injury prevention and caring for everything from hands to vocal cords. I think that’s going to be really helpful and increasingly necessary in our field.
One of the things I really like about being here in Rochester is that we play a big role in the cultural life of the city. That’s also a big responsibility — making sure we’re reaching as many people as we can. I was just talking with some students earlier today who are working on a research project related to this, looking into all the ways we currently reach into the community beyond our walls, and exploring how we might do that in even broader and more innovative ways.
Yitzi: Having a career in music today is very different than it was in the past — it’s more multifaceted. How is Eastman preparing students for a successful career in the music industry?
Kate: Well, I always like to say that Eastman alumni — myself included — are not just performers. They are fantastic performers and also teachers, they work in public schools, run institutions, write film scores and compose. They really are part of the backbone of the music industry. So part of what we’re doing here is planting seeds for all the different ways a career in music could grow. Some of those careers don’t even exist yet, and that’s exciting — as long as we’re preparing our students well.
Eastman is well known for the breadth and depth of its education. We work to educate students deeply in their chosen major — whether that’s as a teacher, performer, scholar, or composer — but also make sure they have a strong foundation in music history and theory. We offer courses in leadership, and we make sure they get all kinds of experiences. At the same time, we give them room to be themselves and take risks — whether that’s trying new types of performance or exploring different kinds of music.
That happened for me. I came in thinking I liked one kind of music, and my whole world opened up here with all the possibilities. I love to see that happen for our students.
One other thing I’ll mention is that many of our students take advantage of what we call the River Campus — the main campus of the University of Rochester. About 20% of our undergrads, for example, do dual degrees. They might study physics and cello performance, or environmental science and flute. And when you talk to these students, they have a really clear vision of how they want to combine those fields. It’s not either/or for them — they’re very much in a “yes, and” mindset.
Yitzi: Fascinating. I know some leaders in the film industry are concerned about the developments in AI. What are the leaders in the music industry — like you — thinking about AI tools like Suno that can just create a song sui generis.
Kate: Well, I just saw a Suno demo by one of our alumni who was giving a talk at our engineering school. It can be a little scary, but it’s also very clear that it’s not as good as the real thing. She was talking about all the ways she could use the tool to compose, but it still definitely needed her, right?
Like any technology, it brings change. We used to wonder if live streaming would keep people from coming to concert halls. But no — people still want that in-person experience. Or take the advent of music notation software. That was a big shift, too. Before, people copied music by hand. Then suddenly, you could do it with software. That was a change, and this is another one.
I’m glad to be in a place where we can engage with researchers and experts who are working on AI-related issues. We have many of those here at the University of Rochester. There are a lot of conversations happening now around music and AI — what kind of research is needed, how we make better tools, and how those tools can support things like music education.
For example, there are AI tools being used in classrooms right now. It would be helpful to create better resources for teachers using them. But it’s also important that we understand the technology, so we can harness its power instead of letting it take over in ways that aren’t helpful.
Yitzi: That’s great. You have an innovative vision for the future of music education. How do you plan to balance that with Eastman’s hundred-year legacy?
Kate: Well, I mean, part of the magic of this place is that there are some things I just don’t see changing. The way we teach someone to play an instrument — that stays the same. Sure, the repertoire might evolve, and some techniques might shift, but the core of how we teach an instrument remains. That’s part of the magic and legacy of music schools in general.
It’s a little cheesy to say, but I use this metaphor: there’s a marble staircase in our main entrance, Lowry Hall. There are these steps worn down with footprints carved into the marble from everyone who’s walked through over the years. I remember seeing those when I was a student and thinking about all the famous musicians who had come before me. Now, I think about our current students and how they’re adding their own steps.
That’s part of the legacy — you feel supported by the people who’ve come before you and the alumni network that surrounds you. And it’s our job to figure out, together, how we honor those traditions while also making this a modern music school — one that best serves our students and everyone who walks through our doors.
Yitzi: This is our signature question. You’ve been blessed with a lot of success, and you have many years of experience leading music programs. Can you share a few things you’ve learned now that you wish you knew when you first started being a leader in the music education space?
Kate: Yes — and some of them are things I tell students.
One is that when you’re first auditioning — as a performer — and the same is true for job interviews, you walk into a room thinking the people there are waiting for you to mess up. But now, after sitting on the other side for hundreds of auditions and interviews, I know that everyone in that room actually wants you to succeed. No one wants to see someone fail — at least not in my experience. We want people to walk in and be wildly successful. But that’s hard to understand unless you’ve been on the other side of the table.
Another one is that in fields like music — and I’m sure this happens in other fields too — we sometimes wait for what we think is the perfect opportunity. But if we wait too long, we miss the ones that could’ve taken us where we needed to go. That could mean taking a job or professional engagement that leads you to a new network, or even doing something you don’t enjoy — because then you learn what you don’t want. Something always leads to something else. But if we hold out for that “perfect” thing, we lose momentum.
Third — and I’ve already touched on this a bit — it’s about building your network, or your friend group, or whatever you want to call it. Knowing who your tight-knit circle is, the people you can count on for advice or just support — your “phone-a-friend” group — that matters a lot. The stronger that group is, the more it’ll carry you through life and career.
Okay, number four. I was just talking to some grad students earlier, and one of them said, “I’m finishing this semester, and I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to do.” And I told her what I think I needed to hear back when I was in her shoes: you’re not supposed to know exactly what you’re doing yet. You might know your next step, but it’s going to be a long journey. You’re constantly figuring out what’s next, where you should be, and what the right move is.
Yitzi: That’s great. Beautiful. So, as you know, in the United States there’s been a lot of budget cutting — and historically, one of the first things to go in schools is arts and music programs. Can you explain why music education is essential and why it should be just as important as STEM education?
Kate: Yeah. There are lots of reasons, and I think there are two kinds of answers to this — and I believe in both.
One is art for art’s sake. It’s what makes us human. It gives us joy and comfort. Think about the early days of COVID — what did we all turn to? Film, music, visual art. And I’ve seen it over and over again — how people are comforted, or find joy, or discover something new just by listening to music. That’s one answer.
The other is the clear, positive impact I’ve seen in kids who study music intensely. In my last role, one of our schools was a public music school where students received intensive music education starting in kindergarten. Those students consistently ranked among the top in the state academically. They had a 100% graduation rate and were all college-bound. And that’s just one example — I could name many others.
There are real things that happen to our brains when we study and perform music. It supports other areas — like academics, physical health, and more. That’s one of the reasons I’m really excited about the growing collaboration between music and medicine. We need the science to back it up. In the arts, we often don’t have the resources to partner with researchers the way other fields do. But that’s starting to change, and it’s something I’m really excited about.
Yitzi: This is our final question — our aspirational question. So Kate, you’re a person of enormous influence. If you could spread an idea or inspire a movement that would bring the most good to the most people, what would that be?
Kate: That’s a hard one. Well, I mean, sitting where I sit, the ideas I think about in response to this question really have to do with music. Because of everything I just said — I’ve seen so many students have their lives changed through learning music, through connecting with others, through performing, and through the academic success that comes along with it. So, in the U.S., I wish we could change the standard for music education — make it a truly robust requirement for all children to be able to learn music in a meaningful way.
Yitzi: How can our readers continue to follow your work? How can they support you in any possible way?
Kate: Well, we always need help in the mission of making music education as accessible as possible. We do that here at Eastman through our college — we have about 900 students — but we also have around 2,000 students in our community music school. We’re always building programs to engage with the community. So, supporting the Eastman School of Music is near and dear to my heart. You can follow us on Instagram at @eastman.school or visit our website for the Eastman School of Music.
Yitzi: It’s been so delightful to meet you. I learned a lot. I hope we can do this again next year.
Kate: Yeah, I’d love it. Thank you very much — this was fun.
Kate Sheeran on Leading Eastman, Embracing Innovation and Honoring a Century-Old Legacy was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.