in the early 1990s Like many of New Orleans' musicians, Ketchens grew up in the
Tremé. She studied clarinet in elementary school, beginning as a fifth-grader at Joseph Craig Elementary. To get out of a pop quiz, she responded to an announcement asking interested students to come and sign up for the band. Her first choice was flute, but most of the girls picked that instrument, so she opted for the clarinet. In junior high school, her band director, Donald Richardson, encouraged her to practice. Concurrently, there was a boy that she was trying to impress. When she finally did practice, her talent began to emerge. Doreen attended
Delgado Community College,
Loyola University of New Orleans,
Southern University In New Orleans, and, through scholarships, including one from the
New York Philharmonic,
University of Hartford's The Hartt School in Hartford, Connecticut, where she studied under
Henry Larsen. She had an internship with the symphony orchestra in Hartford. She worked her way through conservatories and college as a chef, and met her husband, arranger and sousaphonist for Doreen's Jazz New Orleans,
Lawrence Ketchens (1963-2025) at Loyola. She found her passion in Jazz with Lawrence and the two regularly performed together. ==Career==