Karin Brown
by Jacob Jahiel
Karin Brown
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL VIOLA
For Assistant Principal Viola Karin Brown , music is a family business . Her dad is a jazz trumpet player , her mom a violinist , and her grandfather was a jazz marimba player who made appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show : “ I ’ m a third-generation professional musician .”
Unsurprisingly , it doesn ’ t stop there . During the pandemic , alongside her husband , a cellist , and twin ten-year-old daughters , who play violin and cello , she formed the Brown-Levitov Family Band , performing jazz standards arranged by her father . Laughing , Brown explains , “ my kids are very passionate about music … although we still do have to ask them to practice sometimes !”
A passionate educator herself , Karin also maintains a private violin and viola studio and teaches at the Baltimore School for the Arts . “ My parents were both teachers , and I really feel a kind of moral responsibility to pass on the knowledge and skills I have learned . I think it ’ s really important to cultivate the next generation of musicians , music lovers , and supporters of institutions like the BSO . I see it as a moral obligation , but it also happens to be something I love !”
When not rehearsing , performing , or teaching , Brown enjoys hiking with her family — the higher the elevation , the better . “ We ’ ve done Half Dome and Mount Whitney ( CA ), Twin Sisters ( WA ), Flat Top and Mount Sherman ( CO ), and we really love the Sierras ( NV ). I ’ d really like to do Kilimanjaro , but my kids have to be a little older …” Stay tuned for the Tanzania tour of the Brown-Levitov Family Band .
MITRO HOOD
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