Cello Chat with Host Dr. Benjamin Whitcomb interviewing Dr. Karen Becker

Cellist Karen Becker is Professor of Cello and chamber music at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, principal cellist of the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, and director of the University of Nebraska/Lincoln Public Schools String Project. She is a passionate teacher, an active soloist and avid chamber player who performs and gives solo and chamber master classes regularly throughout the United States, Mexico, Europe, and Asia. She has appeared as faculty artist for the Ameropa Music Festival in Prague and is currently faculty artist for Omaha Conservatory’s SoundWaves music camp, as well as the Red Lodge Music Festival in Montana. She was recently invited by the American String Teachers Association to give the Pre-Collegiate Cello Masterclass for the 2023 national convention in Orlando, Florida. Becker has recorded for several PBS documentaries and independent films, tours regularly as a soloist and chamber player, and is a member of the Concordia String Trio (CST). Centaur Records released CST’s CD Viennese String Trios in 2017, another CD, American Vistas, was released in 2018, and a third CD, From the Heart of Ra, was released in November 2022. The latter includes two string trios by Andrew List. She serves as cellist of the Una Corda Ensemble (resident quintet at the University of Nebraska), and her solo CD American Landscapes will be released within the year. She has been featured on American Public Media’s Performance Today numerous times. Becker enjoys learning new music, having given numerous world premieres. In October 2022 the CST premiered Andrew List’s Beyond the Celestial Horizon and in November 2021 she gave the Nebraska premiere of the beautiful neo-romantic cello concerto by Swedish composer Kurt Atterberg with the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra (LSO). In May 2022 she was presented with LSO’s Golden Baton Award for her musicianship and leadership in the Orchestra and Lincoln community. She is an active member of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA), has served as a past president of both the Nebraska and Missouri chapters, presented at numerous national conferences, served on national committees for ASTA, and is a recipient of the ASTA Citation for Leadership & Merit. As a string educator, Becker enjoys serving as a cello clinician, giving masterclasses for cellists of all ages (solo and chamber), conducting honors orchestras, and giving clinics. An avid cyclist, she enjoys endurance cycling and participating in century rides.