Dr. Karla Hamelin

Cellist Karla Hamelin is a dynamic soloist, educator and interdisciplinary performer known for her effective teaching style and distinctive collaborations.

On faculty at Texas State University School of Music since 2011, she teaches across a range of areas including cello, chamber music, string pedagogy, string literature, introduction to fine arts and is the director of the Texas State String Camp. Having taken certification Suzuki training books 1 through 10, Dr. Hamelin is the Director and Master Teacher of the Texas State String Project.

An accomplished performer, Karla is a frequent recitalist who appears in both large and small ensembles in Austin and throughout the Central Texas area. She has worked with numerous artists in other disciplines including composers, dancers, choreographers, visual artists, poets, authors and actors. Her ability to play a broad and diverse spectrum of repertoire has made her in demand as a performer of new works, a sought after chamber musician and a featured artist in a baroque cantata series. Karla has also volunteered extensively with non-profit music organizations and collaborated on events benefitting associations as diverse as Please be Kind to Cyclists, Hope Arts Festival, Symphony of the Soul and Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids.

Karla received her doctorate in cello performance from The University of Texas at Austin. She holds additional degrees from The University of Michigan (M.M.) and the University of Manitoba (B.M.). Her principal teachers have included Anthony Elliott, Phyllis Young, Ronald Leonard and the late Julie Banton. Karla has spent summers at The Banff Center for the Arts, the Aspen Music School, The Johannesen School for the Arts, Texas Music Festival, Aria Summer Academy and the International String Workshop in Austria.

Equally dedicated to performing and pedagogy, Karla is a popular lecturer and clinician who is in demand as a private teacher for students from four to eighteen years of age. Dr. Hamelin has quickly established herself as a highly respected pedagogue whose students have consistently placed in all-state and regional orchestras, been prize winners in state and national competitions, regularly attend summer festivals such as Interlochen, Brevard, Eastern Music Festival, Meadowmount, Aria and the Tanglewood Pre-College Institute. Dr. Hamelin’s cello students have achieved great success with acceptance to highly respected music programs such as the University of Michigan, Oberlin Conservatory, The Cleveland Institute of Music, The Boston Conservatory, The University of Texas at Austin, The University of Houston, Texas Christian University, The University of Wisconsin – Madison, Lawrence Conservatory, DePaul University, Hardin Simmons University, The Berklee College of Music and the University of California—San Francisco. Throughout her career, she has presented Masterclasses in Canada, the US and Mexico and is an adjudicator for the Royal Conservatory of Music in Canada. Recent solo performances have been in Monterrey, Vienna, Budapest and Prague.

In her spare time, Karla enjoys running the many hilly and scenic trails of Austin and Central Texas where she trains for full and half marathons.