Hudson Valley NY–based flutist Jillian Reed loves the opportunities for connection and collaboration that come with being a performer, educator, and activist. She is associate flutist with The Orchestra Now, and has played with the American Symphony Orchestra and the Vermont Philharmonic. In Spring 2023, she performed Tōru Takemitsu’s “I Hear the Water Dreaming” for flute and orchestra with the Bard Conservatory Orchestra under the direction of Tan Dun. Jillian enjoys working closely with living composers, and has performed with the Da Capo Chamber Players, Capitol City Concerts, and at the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival.

Jillian maintains a vibrant flute studio, and has taught at Bard Conservatory Preparatory Division, the Pittsburgh Flute Academy, and El Sistema El Salvador. Her primary goal as a teacher is to help her students express their ideas freely and fully through music making.

Alongside her work in the music world, Jillian is the co-founder of a community centered thrift store called Thrift 2 Fight, which funds local initiatives doing racial, queer, and disability justice work. Since it’s founding in 2020, Thrift 2 Fight has raised and donated over $75k through the sale of secondhand clothes.

Jillian began her undergraduate studies at Carnegie Mellon University and graduated from Bard College & Conservatory with degrees in Human Rights and Flute Performance, studying with Tara Helen O’Connor. Her thesis investigated issues of health and ableism in the music world, and her research findings were published in a feature in Flutist Quarterly.