Karen Michelle Bergmann, D.M.A., is a native of central Maryland, where she started playing violin and piano at 5 years old and then switched to cello at the age of 8. She attended high school at the Baltimore School for the Arts, then went on to earn her Bachelor’s degree Magna cum Laude with a double major in Music and Religious Studies at Ithaca College in upstate New York. Dr. Bergmann subsequently won a full scholarship to complete her Master’s studies in cello at the Irish World Music Centre at the University of Limerick, Ireland.

In June of 2002 she relocated to Tuscany, Italy, where she studied at the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory and developed her career as a soloist and chamber musician, highlighted by a series of concerts at the historic Orsanmichele church in Florence’s city center. Dr. Bergmann returned to the U.S. in February of 2007 and earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in Cello Performance from the University of Georgia in May of 2012.

During her time in Georgia, she has continued to hone her skills as an educator, earning her certification as a Suzuki cello instructor, and serving as Artistic Director of Newton County Youth Strings.