Karen Taddie

Karen Taddie is the retired West Virginia University School of Music Community Music Program’s Coordinator of operations. During her appointment, CMP launched a comprehensive community engagement effort (focus on all age demographics, both within and beyond the borders of Morgantown), developed and strengthened significant new and existing programs and continued to receive generous local funding. In 2015 Karen was named the WVU College of Creative Arts Staff of the Year for her work with the CMP. She retired from the WVU Community Music Program in 2021. Karen teaches piano, through the running of an active private piano instruction studio. She holds permanent national piano teacher certification through the Music Teachers National Association. While residing in West Virginia, she has been actively involved with the West Virginia Music Teachers Association, having held positions of: Treasurer, 1st Vice President, President, and Morgantown District Co-Chair. In 2009 she was named WVMTA’s “Distinguished Leader of the Year”. Prior to moving to West Virginia, she had been associated with the Ohio Music Teachers Association, and was President-Elect of the Massachusetts Music Teachers Association. Karen has also held the post of Eastern Division Teacher Certification Commissioner with the National Certification Commission of the Music Teachers National Association. As an adjudicator she has judged for such organizations as: the Massachusetts Music Teachers Association, the New Hampshire Music Teachers Association, the South Shore Massachusetts Music Teachers Organization, the Ohio Music Teachers Association, the Southeast Ohio Music Teachers Association, the Ohio Music Educators Association and the West Virginia Music Teachers Association. As a past performer, she has been associated with ensembles such as the Cleveland State University New Music Associates, the award-winning Cleveland Chamber Symphony, and the Harvard Group for New Music. Karen is originally from Cleveland Ohio, and in her early career there was the Chair of the piano department and taught at the Riverside School of Music in Lakewood Ohio for 13 years. She has also previously taught Music Theory at Cleveland State University, and was on the music faculties at Cuyahoga Community College and Lorain County Community College (both in Ohio). Additionally she has given piano lessons at the New School of Music and at Powers Music School, both in the Boston/Cambridge Massachusetts area. Her students have won honors from such organizations as: the Massachusetts Music Teachers Association, the American Association of Christian Schools, the West Virginia Music Teachers Association, and the Music Teachers National Association. She hold degrees Music Education (bachelor of arts), Piano Performance (master of music) from Cleveland State University, Cleveland Ohio, where she studied with Joan Terr Ronis, and Andrius Kuprevicius.