Biography

Karin Thompson completed her bachelor’s degree in music at Walla Walla College (now Walla Walla University) and her master’s degree in cello performance at the Peabody Institute. Her principal cello teachers were Christopher von Baeyer, Stephen Kates, Evelyn Elsing, and Kenneth Slowik. Her Ph.D. in musicology is from the University of Maryland. Her dissertation on the transmission of the liturgical chant tradition of the Russian Orthodox Old Believers in Woodburn, Oregon, reflects her interdisciplinary interests.

Dr. Thompson was on the faculty of Atlantic Union College in South Lancaster, Massachusetts, where she taught courses in music history and other interdisciplinary humanities topics in the general education curriculum. She served as chair of the music department and as interim academic dean at Atlantic Union College, then as a faculty member and chair of the music department at Walla Walla University. At Andrews University she teaches music history courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and she has served as department chair and graduate music program director.

As an undergraduate student, Dr. Thompson taught lessons in the preparatory division of the music department at Walla Walla College. She has participated in viola da gamba workshops and early music ensemble performances, and recently she has participated in orchestral performances as a string bass player. Her research interests include early music performance practice, worship traditions within immigrant communities, and interdisciplinary studies that include the visual arts.