Kara Piatt

Born and raised in Arizona, Kara Piatt began her conducting studies during her undergraduate degree in Piano Performance at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Her voice and piano background led her to become an Assistant Conductor and Pianist with the NAU Lyric Opera Theatre. Simultaneously, Kara was the accompanist for multiple instrumental and choral ensembles in the NAU School of Music, which exposed her to a wide variety of conducting styles. These experiences ignited a true passion for conducting and led Kara to pursue many educational opportunities across the country with various renowned conducting pedagogues.

She most recently graduated from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music with her Masters Degree in Orchestral Conducting under the tutelage of Mark Gibson. There, her conducting engagements included serving as Assistant Conductor of the CCM Philharmonia, CCM Concert Orchestra, and the CCM Dance and Opera programs. She also had the opportunity to work closely with talented conductors such as Maestro Louis Langree from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and she even joined the CCM Philharmonia as a pianist on numerous occasions. At ASU, Kara conducts the ASU Studio Orchestra, the ASU Symphony Orchestra, and has been the assistant conductor of the ASU Philharmonia.

She most recently recorded the Rite of Spring with the ASU Symphony Orchestra. In the summer of 2022, Kara was invited to the Monteux Music Festival, where she studied with Tiffany Lu, Kensho Watanabe, David Rahbee, Ludovic Morlot, William White, and Neil Gittleman, and conducted works such as Strauss’s “Metamorphosen” and Ravel “Daphnis and Chloe Suite no. 2.”