MHS Directors and Instructors
Keith Reed
Director of Bands
Mr. Reed is a graduate of Morgantown High School and holds both Bachelor and Master’s degrees from West Virginia University. He has been a member of the West Virginia Band Masters Association for twenty seven years and was inducted into Phi Beta Mu, the National Band Directors’ Honorary. He is also a member of the Music Educators National Conference.
Mr. Reed has been Director of Bands at Morgantown High School since 1987 and was Assistant Director for 6 years prior to that. Under his direction the Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Bands have been selected as West Virginia State Honor Band 6 times. In February 2004, the Percussion Ensemble was one of 5 ensembles invited to perform at the National Percussion Festival in Indianapolis, IN. The marching band has recently been selected as one of only eight high school groups to participate in the internationally acclaimed Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thanksgiving Day, 2009 in New York City. Students have, also, achieved honors including All-State recognition and superior ratings in the Regional Solo and Ensemble Festival. In 2006 Mr. Reed was honored to be named “The West Virginia State High School Band Director of the Year”.
In addition to his duties as Director of Bands, Mr. Reed serves as chair of the Music Department at MHS and is pianist/vocalist/Praise Team leader at his church.
Keith and his wife Linda (also an MHS grad) reside in Morgantown with their daughter Kristin (a senior at WVU) and son Brian, (a Freshman at WVU and a Drumline member of the WVU Marching Band).
Joel E. Cotter
Asst. Director of Bands
Mr. Cotter graduated from West Virginia University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance in 1979, post-graduate study at the Berklee College of music in Boston, MA, and a Master’s Degree in Music Performance from WVU in 1985.
Mr. Cotter is a member of the American Federation of Musicians Local 580, Music Educators National Conference, West Virginia Music Educators Association, where he serves on the Executive Board as a chairman of the West Virginia All-State Orchestra, and the West Virginia Masters Association and Phi Beta Mu, the national band director’s honorary. In addition, he is a member of the American String Teachers Association, the West Virginia String Teachers Association and the International Trumpet Guild.
In addition to his duties as Assistant Director of Bands at Morgantown High School, he is also the director of the Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble and teaches Music theory. Mr. Cotter is a member of the Appalachian Brass Quintet, which is the Ensemble in Residence at Fairmont State University and has performed with the West Virginia Public theatre Orchestra for the past 20 seasons. Mr. Cotter has also performed with The Temptations, The Four Aces, Maynard Ferguson, The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, Dean Jones, Judy Norton-Taylor, Bill Hayes, and Susan Seaforth-Hayes, Fabian, The Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, The Pittsburgh Chamber Opera, The Pittsburgh Bach Choir, and has performed extensively as a free-lance trumpeter throughout the region.
Joel and his wife Annette, son Stefan (a 2004 MHS Band alumni and a seniorMusic education major at WVU) and daughter Emily (a sophomore saxophonist) reside in Morgantown.
Kristin Reed (Choreographer)
Kristin is serving in her fourth year on the Red and Blue Marching Band staff. She is a 2005 graduate of MHS where she was a member of the saxophone section, Mohiganette and Head Majorette. She was also a member of the WV All-State Orchestra on oboe. While at MHS Kristin was a 4-year member of Junior Orchesis Dance Honorary, serving as Vice-President in her senior year. She has studied all forms of dance over the last 18 years with special emphasis on jazz and tap. Kristin is a senior Promise Scholar at WVU in the Benedum Education program majoring in Secondary Math Education with minors in Dance and Communication. In addition to various positions within her sorority, she has served on the WVU Panhellenic Council and has been initiated into Rho Lambda Honorary. She is , also, a member of the WVU Chapter of NESS (National Exemplary Scholars in Service) and SEA (Student Education Association).
Brian Kain (Drill Designer/Instructor)
Brian ia a graduate of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School in Princeton Jct., NJ. He received his Bachelors in Exercise Physiology from WVU in 1997 and Masters in Secondary Education in 2002. He has taught in the Morgantown School District, North Myrtle Beach High School and Wheeling Park High School. He and his wife, Susan, currently reside in New Jersey where he is working as a Microscopy Specialist in the Biomedical Research division of Nikon (Fryer Company). This is Brian’s 11th year working with the “Red and Blue”.