Dr. Kathryn Irwin serves as Assistant Professor of Percussion at the University of Louisiana Monroe School of Visual and Performing Arts. A percussion performer and educator from Petal, Mississippi, Kathryn has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Performances include Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo for renowned percussionist Keiko Abe, Soochow University in Taiwan, the Cortona Sessions for New Music in Italy, the Eutiner Festspiele in Germany, and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. 

As an active soloist and chamber musician in the percussion community, Kathryn is an advocate of expanding the percussion repertoire and prioritizes commissioning new works. She has commissioned composers such as Elliot Cole, Molly Joyce, Joe W. Moore III, Brett William Dietz, and Dave Molk. She enjoys working on collaborative projects with artists of other mediums and professionals outside the field of music as well. The commission of Is This Madness?..., a work for solo percussion and electronics, aims to raise awareness and grow support for members of the bipolar community through performances and clinics. The project consisted of a collaboration with a member of the community with bipolar disorder, a licensed psychiatrist, and composer Joe W Moore III. Is This Madness?… was featured as part of the 2024 Percussive Arts Society Virtual sessions. Kathryn also performs with the percussion quartet Without Borders, which has recently recorded and released a marimba quartet transcription of Béla Bartok’s String Quartet No. 5. 

As an artist and educator, Kathryn proudly represents Pearl/Adams Instruments, Sabian Cymbals, Remo Inc., and Vic Firth sticks and mallets. She currently serves as the President of the Louisiana Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society. Kathryn holds degrees from Michigan State University, the University of Kansas, and Louisiana State University, and her primary teachers include Gwen Dease, Dr. Jon Weber, Ji Hye Jung, and Dr. Brett William Dietz.