September 2025 - Kateri Lavacek, Forestwood Middle School

Kateri Lavacek is an accomplished choral director and educator dedicated to fostering transformative, joyful, and meaningful musical experiences for her students. With a student-centered approach, she creates a welcoming classroom environment and cultivates strong connections between singers, the music they perform, and the audiences they reach. Currently, she serves as the choir director at Forestwood Middle School in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, where she leads six curricular choirs and 250 students. Her Varsity Tenor Bass choir, Cantus, has been selected as an invited choir for the 2026 TMEA Convention in San Antonio.

Originally from Indiana, Kateri has taught music at every level – from early childhood through collegiate instruction. She holds a Bachelor of Choral Music Education with high distinction from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of North Texas.  Her broad range of teaching experience allows her to meet students where they are and guide them in developing both technical skill and musical expression. Throughout her career, she has used music as a lens for exploring global cultures, with her choirs performing repertoire in more than 20 languages. She is particularly passionate about sharing the rich musical traditions of her Hungarian heritage with American audiences. 

Kateri is also an active choral clinician and accompanist. She frequently works with school choirs, provides workshops, and accompanies for concerts, Solo and Ensemble contests, UIL evaluations, and All Region events. She serves as a mentor to early-career choral educators by sharing teaching strategies and fostering professional growth within the field. 

Kateri lives in North Texas with her husband and two children. Outside the classroom, she enjoys making music with her family, hiking, cooking, and playing an assortment of board and card games.