Music
A classically trained violinist, Karen discovered the viola da gamba as an undergraduate and later pursued graduate study in early music. She has appeared with a variety of early music ensembles in New England and Texas including The King's Noyse, Arcadia Players, Cambridge Concentus, Grand Harmonie, La Follia Austin Baroque, Helios Early Opera, Exsultemus, the Meravelha, and many others. She is a founding member of Seven Times Salt, a broken consort specializing in 17th-century English music, currently in its 17th year together. The group presents its own concert series every year and has researched original programs for numerous festivals, historical societies, museums and more. Karen also performs with Long & Away, a Boston-area viol consort she helped found in 2006. Karen enjoys playing Scottish and Irish fiddle tunes and leads a Celtic band, Ulster Landing, devoted to folk music of England, Ireland and Scotland. For seven years she also played and toured with Newpoli, an award-winning Boston area group specializing in Southern Italian folk music, and she
Instruments
Modern violin and viola
Baroque violin and viola
Viola da gamba
Vielle (medieval fiddle)
Rebec (cousin to the vielle)
Renaissance guitar
Harp - occasionally!
Dance
In addition to her musical pursuits, Karen studied historic dance with Ken Pierce, Kaspar Mainz, and Dorothy Olsson and has danced in several baroque opera productions. She has experience with English and Scottish country dance, Renaissance, Baroque, Regency, contra, waltzing, and Irish ceili dancing, and is always interested in learning new styles.
Teaching
Karen maintains a private string studio and has taught violin lessons for two decades. For several years she taught on the string faculty of the Texas TOOT, where she coached violin band and collaborated on English masque and Italian commedia dell'arte performances, and she has taught at workshops for the Viola da Gamba Society - New England.
A classically trained violinist, Karen discovered the viola da gamba as an undergraduate and later pursued graduate study in early music. She has appeared with a variety of early music ensembles in New England and Texas including The King's Noyse, Arcadia Players, Cambridge Concentus, Grand Harmonie, La Follia Austin Baroque, Helios Early Opera, Exsultemus, the Meravelha, and many others. She is a founding member of Seven Times Salt, a broken consort specializing in 17th-century English music, currently in its 17th year together. The group presents its own concert series every year and has researched original programs for numerous festivals, historical societies, museums and more. Karen also performs with Long & Away, a Boston-area viol consort she helped found in 2006. Karen enjoys playing Scottish and Irish fiddle tunes and leads a Celtic band, Ulster Landing, devoted to folk music of England, Ireland and Scotland. For seven years she also played and toured with Newpoli, an award-winning Boston area group specializing in Southern Italian folk music, and she
Instruments
Modern violin and viola
Baroque violin and viola
Viola da gamba
Vielle (medieval fiddle)
Rebec (cousin to the vielle)
Renaissance guitar
Harp - occasionally!
Dance
In addition to her musical pursuits, Karen studied historic dance with Ken Pierce, Kaspar Mainz, and Dorothy Olsson and has danced in several baroque opera productions. She has experience with English and Scottish country dance, Renaissance, Baroque, Regency, contra, waltzing, and Irish ceili dancing, and is always interested in learning new styles.
Teaching
Karen maintains a private string studio and has taught violin lessons for two decades. For several years she taught on the string faculty of the Texas TOOT, where she coached violin band and collaborated on English masque and Italian commedia dell'arte performances, and she has taught at workshops for the Viola da Gamba Society - New England.