She was a violist born Karen Effie Moe in California to a family where her mother was a cellist with the San Diego Symphony for 22 years. She married the cellist Douglas Dirks and has a son, Olin and a daughter Jelena, who is Principal Oboe with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.
She studied at University of California San Diego and went on to earn her BA in Maths from San Diego State University.
She performed firstly violin and later the viola with the San Diego Symphony where she was Acting Concertmaster from 1987 to 1988 and Principal Viola from 1992 to 1997. She was the Concertmaster of San Diego Opera for 17 years and Concertmaster of La Jolla Chamber Orchestra.
In 1997 she joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a violist. She retired from the CSO in 2013.
Recordings she has performed on include Verse by Patricia Barber, Brahms: Violin Concerto/Sonata No. 3 by Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Come On Up by Brian Culbertson and Christmas Extraordinaire and Christmas Celebration by Mannheim Steamroller.
She died in St. Louis, Missouri in October 2023 after a long illness. She was 76 years old.
She performs here…
Sources:
- https://cso.org/experience/article/15741/remembering-karen-dirks
- http://helixhigh1964.fileburst.com/BIOS/Moe.pdf
- https://www.stokowski.org/Chicago_Symphony_Musicians_List.htm
- https://musiciansutahsymphony.com/musical-journey/
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/997515-Karen-Dirks
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/karen-dirks-mn0001857054