KATHRYN
JURADO

A musician with over 30 years of performance experience, 20 years of non-profit volunteer work, and lifelong church music ministry service, Kathryn Jurado has quickly gained prominence in the handbell community. Currently she is the Director of Handbells at Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland where she leads ensembles of students in the 5th through 12th grades. In addition to her full-time position at Landon School, she was recently named as the new Alfred Handbell Editor and Instrumental Editor for Jubilate Music Group succeeding such names of predecessors as Sondra Tucker, Tammy Waldrop, and Anna Laura Page.

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Kathryn most recently earned her Masters Degree in Oboe Performance at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. She was awarded a graduate assistantship in the oboe studio where she assisted with undergraduate lessons, played in the graduate quintet, took lessons in conducting, and started the first-ever collegiate handbell ensemble at USF where she taught graduate and undergraduate students. 

Prior to her move to the DC metro area, Kathryn was Vice President and Event Coordinator, as well as one of the music directors of Magic of Bronze, the community handbell ensemble in the Orlando area, which was one of the featured choirs at the 2020 HMA National Seminar. She also completed a term as Associate Director of Suncoast Bronze Ringers, a community handbell ensemble based in the Tampa area, and as director of the Lake Magdalene Ringers at Lake Magdalene United Methodist Church, also in Tampa. After serving a second 2-year term as Treasurer of Handbell Musicians of America, Area 4, Kathryn was nominated and elected to the Position of President-Elect of the national organization, Handbell Musicians of America. She was a Province Officer with Sigma Alpha Iota, International Music Fraternity, was an educator for over a decade with Hillsborough County Public Schools, the 7th largest school district in the nation, and was an active member of the music program at Hyde Park United Methodist Church in Tampa.

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Kathryn had the privilege of being the clinician for Reaching for Bronze 2022 (now known as Crescendo) at Distinctly Bronze East alongside Brian Childers in New Bern, North Carolina. She was also one of the participants in HMA’s Conducting Masterclass under Dr. William Payn in 2021 and again in 2023. In June of 2024 and again in 2025, she was the handbell clinician for the Florida Chapter of the Fellowship of Worship Artists’ Worship Arts Week in Fruitland Park, Florida. Among her other engagements she was the inaugural clinician for Area 4, HMA’s Bells of the Caribbean in Carolina, Puerto Rico in November of 2024, the director of Handbell Musicians of America’s College Ring-In in January of 2025, and the director of the Utah Spring Ring in March of 2025.

 

Her upcoming work as a clinician/director includes: HMA Area 3 Rehoboth Beach Handbell Festival in Delaware, HMA Area 4 2026 Florida Handbell Festival, The Big Sky Handbell Festival in Montana, HMA Area 8 Festival Bronze Choir Clinician in Nebraska, The Fellowship of Worship Artist’s National Worship Arts Week Instrumental and Tin Handbell Ensemble Clinician at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, and National Faculty for Handbell Musicians of America National Seminar in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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Recently Kathryn has rung at both Distinctly Bronze East and West events, has been selected for the National Seminar All-Star Choirs since 2018, and was honored to have been chosen for Virtuoso 2019, 2022, and 2024 with the Raleigh Ringers and Zenith 2023, 2024, and 2025 with Matthew Compton and Alex Guebert, both being auditioned bronze-level ringing events.

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Born in Puerto Rico, Kathryn started her music studies at a young age. By age 15, she was playing the oboe with The Florida Orchestra and began free-lancing in the Tampa Bay area. Some of these performances have been with Opera Tampa under the late Anton Coppola, the Venice Symphony, The Tampa Bay Symphony, The Villages Philharmonic, La La Land Live, as well as with musicians such as Ray Charles, the Irish Tenors, and pop superstars Hanson. Kathryn attended the University of South Florida and also received a Bachelor of Music Studies degree with concentrations in education and performance. ​

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While working in Hillsborough County Public Schools, Kathryn has led many ensembles in singing, handbells, percussion, and modern band. She had the privilege of directing the Hillsborough All-County Handbell Ensemble four times and has had many students selected for the All-State Elementary Choir and Orff Ensembles. During her work with Handbell Musicians of America, Area 4, she had been a faculty member for state festivals, the Area 4 National Seminar Scholarship Coordinator, and the Event Coordinator for Bronze Under the Sun 2021. Kathryn has served as the Treasurer, President, and most recently the Vice President of Ritual for the Sigma Alpha Iota Tampa Alumnae Chapter, where she was awarded the Rose of Honor in 2021. She has also held the position of President-Elect and President of the Hillsborough County Elementary Music Educators Council.

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Kathryn currently lives in Germantown, Maryland with her son, Daniel, and her husband and fellow handbell ringer and director, William J. Murphy and their 4 cats, Zack, Loki, Bella, and Millie.