Karl Knapp

Dr. Karl Knapp is known as a devoted Suzuki educator and also for his solo and chamber music performances. He recently served as Principal Cellist with the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra as well as the Arctic Chamber Orchestra and the Juneau Symphony Orchestra.

In Alaska, Dr. Knapp helped found the Alaska Cello Intensive. ACI is a two-week summer program which combines intense music study with the similarly intense experience of Alaska’s midnight sun and landscapes like Denali national park or Kennecott Glacier. His students have continued their studies at schools such as University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Michigan, and the Cleveland Institute of Music.

His Master and Doctorate of Music performance degrees are from University of Wisconsin—Madison where he was a member of the Hunt Quartet, an educational ensemble which took classical music into the elementary schools in the area. He has performed in the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Madison Opera Orchestra, and Minnesota Opera Orchestra. His studies have been with with Karl Lavine, Stefan Kartman, Nina Gordon, Uri Vardi, Parry Karp, and the members of the Pro Arte Quartet.

Dr. Knapp’s wife, Jamie-Rose Guarrine, serves on the voice faculty at UMASS Amherst. They, along with their two sweet cats, are residents of Amherst, MA.