Karen De Pastel

Karen De Pastel (b. 1949) was born in Bellingham,Washington (USA). She moved to Austria and studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, graduating with honors. Karen De Pastel also attended masterclasses for organ with Anton Heiller, Dorthy de Rooij, Tagliavini and Rössler. From 2006 till 2012, she studied conducting with the famous composer and conductor Vassil Kazandjiev in Bulgaria. Karen De Pastel began performing as concert pianist and violinist in 1961 and was chosen to hold the position of concertmistress in several orchestras, first in Olympia and Seattle (WA, USA), later also in Vienna. In 1973, she developed a new perspective in her musical life by becoming an active concert organist, first working at the St. Othmar church in Mödling. Later she accepted the position of monastery organist and choirdirector at the Monastery Lilienfeld in 1975. After three years, Karen De Pastel founded an annual Music Festival in Stift Lilienfeld, performing operas and symphonic works by great masters under her direction. Inspired by the success of these festivals, Karen De Pastel took the initiative and founded the International Summer Academy in Lilienfeld for Musik and Arts in 1982, including masterclasses for voice and all instruments. She has continuosly directed both festivals to this very day, leading them to world wide recognition and receiving multible honors for her cultural achievements. Besides her involved responsibilities in connection with these festivals and with the direction of the music academy at the Monastery Lilienfeld, Karen De Pastel still performs concerts internationally as solo organist, violinist, pianist and conductor, also performing with such distinguished orchestras as the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra or the NÖ Tonkünstlerorchester, to name only a few. From 1974 till 2014 Karen De Pastel taught organ, violin and piano at the music conservatory in St. Poelten and piano, organ and theory as professor at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, regularly holding masterclasses for organ, piano and composition in several countries such as in Bulgaria (for 12 years), Iceland and USA (Interlochen, Detroit, Tacoma) Karen De Pastel has been active as a composer from the very beginning of her musical career, her first compositions dating from school days in Olympia including a string quartet and the Concertante for violin and string orchestra. Since then she has composed concertos, chamber music, songs, sacred music for choir, cantatas and works for solo instruments and orchestra.