Cellist Karen Becker is an active soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. Performances have taken her around the world to Brazil, the Czech Republic, England, South Korea, Mexico, Norway, Switzerland, Vietnam, and throughout the United States. She is Professor Emeritus at the University of Nebraska Glenn Korff School of Music where she taught cello, coached chamber music, and directed the String Project. She enjoys working with young students, presenting masterclasses around the world and at the American String Teachers Association National Convention. Becker is principal cellist of the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra. She has served as faculty artist for national and international festivals, including the Ameropa Music Festival in Prague, SoundWavesMusic Festival, Red Lodge Music Festival, the International Cello Institute, and most recently the Nebraska Crossroads Music Festival. 

Collaborative work includes cello improvisation with dance colleagues at the University of Nebraska (Lincoln), numerous concerto performances with the University of Nebraska Symphony, the Huntington Symphony, the Butte Symphony, Orchestra Omaha, and the Nebraska premiere of the Kurt Atterburg cello concerto with Lincoln Symphony, . She continues to tour regularly as cellist of the Becker-Bogard Duo, the Concordia String Trio, and the Front Range Piano Quartet, and has been a featured artist with the Omaha Chamber Music Society. In 2023 the Becker-Bogard Duo released their CD American Landscapes (works by Samuel Barber, Libby Larsen, Warren Gooch, Laurence Sherr, and George Walker). Concordia String Trio recordings include Viennese String Trios, American Vistas, and From the Heart of Ra: New Chamber Music for Viola by Andrew List. In 2015 Becker and pianist Jay Mauchley gave the world premiere of Laurence Sherr’s Sonata for Cello and Piano: Mir Zaynen Do! She has recorded for several PBS documentaries and independent films and has been featured numerous times on American Public Media’s Performance Today. Becker’s most influential teachers include Leighton Conkling and world-renowned string pedagogue Phyllis Young. This is Karen’s first year with the Buzzards Bay Musicfest.