Instructor Bio

Karen Pfeifer

Part-time Instructor – Oboe and Music Appreciation

Office: Sanborn Hall
Email: klpfeife@owu.edu

Education
B.M., The Ohio State University

M.M., Temple University

About

Karen Barnick Pfeifer is an instructor of oboe at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio. As a music educator, Karen is driven by an internal passion to enrich each student, inspiring musical excellence and a love of music. In 2011, Karen was awarded the Columbus Symphony Orchestra Music Educator’s Award in recognition of her oboe instruction. Over the years, Karen’s students have consistently won placements in the OMEA All-State Ensembles, more than any oboe teacher in the state, and have earned first chairs in both the National Orchestra and Band (NAfME).

At the Ohio Music Educator’s Association Conference, Karen presented oboe teaching strategies in, “Lions, Tigers, and Oboes! Oh My!” Karen also organized “Oboe Song,” featuring performances by students in the Ohio State Fair art gallery. At Ohio Wesleyan University, Karen regularly performs and offers an annual Oboe Master Class Series as well as group reed making classes. Karen is also a faculty member at Chamber Music Connection, as well as Co-Chair of the Scholarship Committee. She is an adjudicator for the annual New Albany Concerto Competition.

Karen is currently the principal oboist with the New Albany Symphony Orchestra, and Central Ohio Symphony, and was the principal oboist of the Columbus Bach Ensemble. She has been a featured soloist in each orchestra. She is also the principal oboist of Opera Project Columbus where she serves as Board President and Orchestra Manager. She has performed with the Columbus Symphony, Mansfield Symphony, and Camarata. At Ohio Wesleyan University, Karen is a member of Trio D’ Anches, a faculty reed trio.

Karen Pfeifer studied oboe at Temple University with legendary English hornist, Louis Rosenblatt of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and graduated with a Masters of Music in Oboe Performance. Undergraduate studies were at The Ohio State University with oboe training under William P. Baker, where she double majored in Music Education and Oboe Performance.

She and her husband, Bob, a clarinetist, live in Dublin, Ohio, sharing the adventures of life as musicians with six fabulous children and a little fluffy dog, Murfey.