Karen Gibbard (MMus) is a freelance oboist and professional member of the Incorporated Society of Musicians. She regularly performs in a variety of orchestral, chamber and solo settings. These have included engagements with the Gabrieli Consort & Players, New London Consort, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Dunedin Consort & Players, Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht, London Handel Festival, Parley of Instruments, Brook Street Band, and Brighton Early Music Festival. Karen is part of the 2012 European Union Baroque Orchestra (EUBO), was a member of the 2010 Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Experience scheme (funded by Ann and Peter Law), and she has regularly performed on classical and romantic oboes with the 2008-2010 Jeune Orchestre Atlantique. Karen has also carried out a rare solo performance of Gordon Jacob's second oboe concerto and has played with All Souls Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall, the New English Orchestra, and the Orchestra of the Teatro Olimpico of Vicenza at the New York Carnegie Hall. Karen is completing a Masters in baroque and classical oboe performance with Katharina Arfken at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, Switzerland. Prior to this Karen studied baroque oboe with Katharina Spreckelsen and Gail Hennessy in London, after graduating with an MMus Distinction in modern Oboe Performance from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. This was generously funded by the HR Taylor Charitable Trust and the Mercers' Company. Karen enjoys taking music into community settings, having been involved in a wide variety of education workshops with Live Music Now!, Wigmore Hall, LSO Discovery Scheme, City of London Festival, Brighton Early Music Festival and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Karen teaches both the oboe and recorder, and is registered with the British Suzuki Institute as one of the first UK Suzuki recorder teachers. "Karen is an exceptionally fine player with very powerful tone and immaculate execution. "
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