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. Becker is Professor Emeritus in the University of Nebraska Glenn Korff School of Music where she has taught cello, coached chamber music, and was Director of the String Project. She enjoys working with young students, presenting masterclasses around the world and at the American String Teachers Association National Convention (2024). 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, SoundWaves Music Festival, Red Lodge Music Festival, the International Cello Institute, and most recently the Nebraska Crossroads Music Festival. This is her first year with the Sunflower Music Festival.

Collaborations include cello improvisation with dance colleagues at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, playing chamber music with her Nebraska colleagues, touring regularly as cellist of the Becker-Bogard Duo, the Concordia String Trio, the Front Range Piano Quartet, and for the Omaha Chamber Music Society. In October 2023 the Becker-Bogard Duo released their CD American Landscapes, which includes works by Samuel Barber, Libby Larsen, Warren Gooch, Laurence Sherr, and George Walker. As cellist of the Concordia String Trio, she has recorded 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! at the University of Nebraska. 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. She enjoys cycling and walking her dog Rizzo.