uky.edu
Karen Bottge
Assistant Professor of Music
Degrees:
- Ph.D. University of Wisconsin- Madison
- M.A. University of Minnesota- Twin Cities
- B.A. St. Olaf College
At UK since: 2007
Phone: 859-257-8719
Email: karen.bottge@uky.edu
Karen Bottge holds a B.A. in music education from St. Olaf College, a M.A. from the University of Minnesota in music theory, and a Ph.D. in music theory with secondary emphasis in string pedagogy from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Prior to her appointment at UK, she taught at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
Her research locates specific references to the child and childhood in the musical culture of the nineteenth century and discusses how those idealized images are both sonorously enacted in compositions and used as a strategy of argument within music theories and pedagogies of the time. She has published her research in 19th Century Music and presented papers at regional and national conferences.
At the university level, she has taught courses that include graduate music theory pedagogy, undergraduate music theory, aural skills, orchestration, music history, applied violin and viola, string methods, keyboard skills, and orchestra for adults and non-music majors. At the K-12 level, Bottge was orchestra director for 15 years in the public schools and maintained a private studio of string students. In addition, she served as string adjudicator for all state, concerto, and young artist competitions, and she accompanied frequently on piano and harpsichord.
She has performed on violin and viola with various orchestras, most recently the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Madison Opera, and Madison Bach Musicians. Over the years she has enjoyed playing for a number of outstanding artists, among them Victor Borge, Antonia Brica, Kryzsztof Penderecki, Vladimir Spivakov, Pinchas Zuckerman, Midori, Branford Marsalis, Edgar Meyer, Denyce Graves, Edo de Waart, and Wayne Newton.
At the University of Kentucky, Bottge teaches the undergraduate core written and aural theory curriculum and graduate topics such as the history of music theory and tonal analysis.