Biography
Biography of Karen Baughman
Karen Baughman began her piano studies in Southern California at the age of six. By age 11 she was accompanying in church meetings, and at age 13 began professional accompanying. At age fourteen she studied organ with Parley Belnap and served as Church Organist throughout high school. Her studies continued with Jack Crossan in South Pasadena in her teenage years. While with Jack she was often a featured performer in a variety of community programs in the Southern California area.
Karen pursued a degree in music pedagogy at Brigham Young University 1970-1973, studying privately with Terry Peterson and Marlene Bachelder. In 1973 she married Mark Baughman and settled down to raise a family. She thereafter taught privately as many students as her schedule would allow.
In the 1980’s Karen added choral conducting to her skill set, conducting both adult and youth choruses. In 1997 she conducted a chorus of over 300 youth who performed for a special service in Key Arena.
As her children grew, Karen began teaching more in earnest. As she dedicated herself to improving her teaching she felt frustrated at her inability to “cover all the bases” with students in a weekly private lesson, and began looking for ideas that would improve her effectiveness. She happened upon a presentation of group piano teaching in December of 2000 and saw in this idea great potential. She discovered how working with groups and incorporating current technology--including midi support of teaching materials and computer software-- could enable her to cover more material in a weekly lessons. In March 2001 Karen built a music studio in her home complete with four Technics Digital Ensemble Pianos and began teaching group piano. She trained with Serena Mackay, a master teacher from Boise Idaho, and later certified as a Musikgarten instructor under the tutelage of Mary Louise Wilson. Mastering the art of group piano teaching has in itself been an exciting and rewarding process. In March 2006 Karen expanded her studio to include space for the music and movement classes, and added two additional pianos. Hers is a comprehensive, innovative teaching style, designed to lay a solid foundation for beginning students and then to continue building on that carefully-laid foundation, producing students who will enjoy music for a lifetime.
Karen has continued her professional growth by studying piano performance with Timothy Strong of the University of Puget Sound from 2001-2007. In addition, she studied jazz and improvisation with Michael Stegner of Seattle, Washington in 2007, and chord theory with Forrest Kinney also in the Seattle, Washington area that same year. Recently, Karen has relocated to Orem, Utah following the death of her husband Mark, and is now establishing her studio in the Provo/Orem area.