Karen Nell
Karen Nell, born and raised in St. John's, Newfoundland, was pleased to return to her home province in the summer of 2003 as a member of the RES tour choir. Karen is an accomplished soprano, instrumentalist, choral conductor, and teacher of voice and piano. She has always been involved in the active choral and handbell music program of Gower Street United Church in St. John's. She studied piano with Doreen Brown, voice with Marilyn Murphy and Douglas Dunsmore, clarinet with Alison McHugh, and played in bands led by Edsell Bonnell.
She sang with the Newfoundland Symphony Youth Choir under Susan Knight and Ki Adams. For four summers, she was a chorister and soloist with the National Youth Choir: 1998 and 1999 (Iwan Edwards), 2000 (Leonard Ratzlaff) and 2002 (Lydia Adams). At Memorial University, she sang with the Memorial University Chamber Choir and the Memorial University Festival Choir. She has sung in a number of operas, both as soloist and member of the chorus. She graduated from Memorial with a BMus in Vocal Performance (1999).
Karen is now in her fourth year at the University of Alberta, a Master of Music candidate with a double major in vocal performance and choral conducting. Since 2000, she has sung with the U of A Madrigal Singers under Leonard Ratzlaff. In the 2003-04 season she joined the RES soprano section, and was appointed RES choral assistant.
