Karin began studying violin at age 10, after years of pleading with her mother and father to allow her to study piano. It was believed the violin would be a lot easier on their budget than the piano Karin first requested. Musical sound, rhythm, and harmony were very compelling to the young violinist, and she felt drawn to creating a vibrant tone. When her family moved to rural Pontiac, Illinois, the high school didn’t have an orchestra, so she sang in the choir and played bassoon in the band. The bassoon didn't get much practice because Karin considered it too heavy to carry home. Meanwhile, Karin's mother drove her 40 miles each week for violin lessons and string quartet rehearsals with Illinois State University professors Art Lewis and Howard Rye. Karin chose to study violin at ISU (and met future husband and collaborator Mike there in music theory class), and later attended graduate school at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Karin began her career as a violinist in the Knoxville Symphony. Her professional work has been diverse. She has played with the Milwaukee Symphony, Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, and Elgin Symphony, and has served as concertmaster for the Racine Symphony and Woodstock Mozart Festival in Illinois. She is currently freelancing in the Washington, DC area, performing with the Annapolis and Maryland Symphonies, and the National Philharmonic Orchestra, in addition to numerous other local groups at venues including the Kennedy Center, National Cathedral, and Music Center at the Strathmore. She has collaborated with a wide variety of popular touring bands, including Josh Groban, Barry Manilow, Earth Wind and Fire, Kansas, and Natalie Cole, to name a few.
In her spare time, Karin loves to travel, swim, and engage in conservation gardening, growing a wide variety of showy blossoms that attract butterflies and hummingbirds to their yard each summer. Karin and Mike live in Maryland with their three daughters.
