Karen Bronson

Karen Andreas Bronson has a diverse career as a soloist, lecturer, educator, ensemble musician, chamber musician, and podcast host. Since 2020, she has been the Adjunct Instructor of Clarinet at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, while maintaining a large private clarinet studio in the North Texas area. Karen serves on the Artistic Leadership Team for the International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest 2025.

Originally from North Carolina, Karen Andreas Bronson began her musical endeavors at an early age, touring across the United States as principal clarinetist in the McDonald’s All-American Band and working as youth orchestra manager at the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra.

At Appalachian State University, she studied with Douglas Miller before completing a Bachelor of Music degree in clarinet performance at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she studied with Daryl Coad and Kelly Burke. She then received a Master of Music degree in clarinet performance from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where she studied with the renowned Robert Listokin and toured with Mark Popkin’s Kammermusik ensemble. At the University of North Texas, she studied with John Scott and Phillip Paglialonga and received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in clarinet performance, with a related field in wind band conducting under the leadership of Eugene Migliaro Corporon.

Passionate about clarinet pedagogy and music entrepreneurship, she emphasizes the importance of understanding past traditions, celebrating current trends, and nurturing the future of clarinetists. She continues to research the highly influential pedagogy of Robert Marcellus and has presented on the topic at ClarinetFest and the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors Conference. To celebrate current trends in clarinet pedagogy, she created and hosts the podcast “The Clarinet Pedagogue”. To strengthen music educators’ business skills, she has lectured on “Running Your Studio as a Business” at the Texas Music Educators Conference and continues to advise lesson teachers.

As an advocate for contemporary music by local composers, she created “The Avenue C Project”, a collaborative platform for wind musicians and composers. This commissioning project has premiered pieces for reed trio and for bass clarinet at the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors Conference, the Texas Music Educators Association Convention, and the Midlands New Music Symposium.

Karen Bronson plays the Henri SELMER Paris Muse clarinets and resides in Southlake, Texas.

Photo credit: Lindsey Hiles