Oboist Karen Strand is a native of the Lower Columbia area, (Read more) having grown up in St. Helens, Oregon. Since 1989, Karen has been Associate Professor of Music at Portland State University. Collegiate music studies were at the University of Oregon and the Eastman School of Music. Among her teachers were J. Robert Moore, Evelyn Barbirolli, Robert Sprenkle, Ron Roseman, Thomas Stacy and Fred Korman.  Karen studied for a college academic year in Reading, England and since then, she has performed internationally in the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and the People’s Republic of China.  She is an active performer in the Pacific Northwest, working as a member of the Portland Opera Orchestra, Portland Chamber Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony, the Oregon Coast Music Festival, and Siletz Bay Music Festival.  Much to her delight, having just moved to Longview in 2022, Karen is now busy locally, performing with the Southwest Washington Symphony and the Columbia River Chamber Music festival.