Jillian Reed
​​​​​​​flute - CCC Artistic Director

Vermont raised flutist Jillian Reed loves the opportunities for connection and collaboration that come with being a performer, educator, and community organizer. She is associate flutist with The Orchestra Now, and plays with the American Symphony Orchestra. In 2023, she was a soloist with the Bard Conservatory Orchestra under the direction of Tan Dun, performing Tōru Takemitsu’s “I Hear the Water Dreaming”. She has performed with the Da Capo Chamber Players, North Country Chamber Players, Joan Tower’s Music Alive series, and at the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival.

Jillian is faculty for the Bard Conservatory Preparatory Division and maintains a vibrant flute studio. She helps her students develop and express their musical voice, and many of them perform in NY All State, music festivals, and competitions.

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 its founding in 2020, Thrift 2 Fight has raised and donated over $125k through the sale of secondhand clothes.

Jillian studied at Carnegie Mellon University and Bard College & Conservatory, graduating with degrees in Human Rights and Flute Performance. Her flute professors were Alberto Almarza, Jeanne Baxtresser, and Tara Helen O’Connor. Jillian’s thesis investigated issues of health and ableism in the music world, and her research findings were published in a feature in Flutist Quarterly.