The Colorado Symphony

My mother is a keyboardist, and collected pianos, harpsichords, and organs while I was growing up. She still plays organ in a church and conducts the choir at age 84! My dad played the radio, and sang in my mom’s choir. Actually, one Christmas my mom gave my dad cello lessons for a year as a gift. After that year, he never bugged my sisters and I about practicing again!

Karen Kinzie

Karen (Whitson) Kinzie has been a violinist with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra since 1993. Originally from Chicago, she graduated from Indiana University where she studied with James Buswell and Nelli Schkolnikova. Prior to joining the Colorado Symphony, Karen played in The Florida Orchestra, The Florida Philharmonic, and Grant Park Symphony in Chicago. She and her husband, Colorado Symphony's Principal Percussionist John Kinzie, perform in the Grand Teton Music Festival every summer. Karen and John participate in several Colorado Symphony's small ensembles together including Once Upon a Time, Mathnotes and Petite Musique. They have four boys: Ryan, Karl, Grant and Reid.

Karen’s favorite composers are Brahms and Prokofiev, but she also listens to Coldplay and Sting. Her interests include camping, golfing, skiing, doing crosswords, and playing Scrabble. When Karen isn’t busy driving the boys to cello and piano lessons or Music Together classes, she maintains a private violin studio and runs her own business with Mary Kay, where she is a Senior Independent Beauty Consultant.

Camping in the Tetons