Karen’s story
Karen’s passion is writing songs and creating musicals out of her songs. She greatly admired Princess Diana so she wrote a touching musical about her with author Elaine Jabenis. They also wrote the family musical,From Generation to Generation together. These two musicals have been playing in cities all over the country. Karen has two other musicals and more than 15 albums to her name. (see the album covers below) She is an award-winning songwriterand her songs have been in 3 movies! Her arranger is Mannheim Steamroller’s Chuck Penington. She records in Omaha with Grammy-nominated engineer Tom Ware. And don’t forget to go to you tube to enjoy her 80 plus videos – some of them have gone viral! She hopes that you love her music as much as she loves writing and recording it! She has met some wonderful people through her music and she hopes to continue to raise money for various causes with her music. “One of my greatest joys is watching people get into my songs while we’re on stage singing them! Thanks to all of my wonderful singers who has been with me on stage and recorded with me for many years!”
Composer, Lyricist, Author
A former teacher of the visually impaired, Karen stayed at home with her
children until they started school. At that point, her background in
piano, singing, and dancing led her to an exciting career in song
writing. In her first effort, she penned the lyrics and composed the
music for Jim Conant’s Love! At the Café! Next, she co-wrote the musical
From Generation to Generation with author Elaine Jabenis. Karen also
composed Generation’s music and lyrics. Both works earned Theater Arts
Guild Writing awards. Generation has been produced in Omaha, St. Louis,
and Beverly Hills, California.
At Princess Diana’s death, Karen, an ardent admirer, expressed her grief by writing songs about the princess. Three months and 60 songs later, Karen decided to create a musical about Diana’s life, beginning with Prince Charles’ courtship. “I am so saddened by the death of this wonderful woman who gave so much to the world,” Karen lamented. “Writing Princess Diana, the Musical is my way of trying to keep her memory alive.”
Besides her theater work, Karen composed the theme song for the international Odyssey of the Mind scholastic competition. The song, O.M.—It’s Creativity!, is performed annually at the O.M. World Finals. In addition, her compelling One People, One Destiny, written with Joanie Jacobson, was sung at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles to celebrate Israel’s 50th anniversary.
A prolific composer, Karen’s other works include a song written and
performed for Nobel Peace Prizewinner Elie Wiesel, and an upbeat tune
for ” Omaha, the Movie,” written by Dan Mirvish. She enjoys
collaborating with Chuck Penington, who orchestrates her music. Karen
and Chuck, the musical conductor for the Grammy-award winning group,
Manheim Streamroller, are combining their talents again on a new pop CD
to be released in 1999.
Karen and her husband, Gary, have three wonderful children Jenny, Mark, and Rachel.
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