About
Originally from the DC area, Karine Vann is a sought-after music educator, writer, and collaborative pianist based in the Napa Valley. Her writings on Armenian music and culture have been translated into multiple languages and published in Armenia’s Journal of Social Sciences Լրաբեր, Smithsonian.com, Yerevan Magazine, Hetq, and The Armenian Weekly (where she served as editor). Her writings on environmental topics have been featured on Waste Dive, Ensia, The Counter, and Civil Eats.
Karine has participated in musical collaborations that span genres and continents. From peacebuilding concerts in the south Caucasus to local performances in the Bay Area, her specialty is in creating powerful and interactive musical experiences that build community and bring people together. In 2023, she and Lebanese-Armenian vocalist and duduk player, Khatchadour Khatchadourian, launched a collaboration called Barbar Band, which fuses traditional Armenian folk, classical and jazz idioms. The duo has sold out shows across the Bay area.
In 2022, Karine founded Janapar Piano Studio, where she was in high demand as a teacher of music theory and piano technique to children as young as 5. She is certified as an instructor of Russian Method piano technique through The Gorin Institute and utilizes the Tales of A Musical Journey curriculum in her private teaching. In her years as a teacher and mother, she has developed special expertise in the area of music for early childhood, preparing children for playing an instrument by first developing their voices. She has led a longstanding weekly music class for children ages 2 to 5 at Nature’s Way Montessori since 2022. Currently, she serves as the music director for the Stone Bridge School, a Waldorf-inspired charter based in Napa where her two sons attend.
Karine is a graduate of Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where she studied piano technique under Dr. Reiko Neriki. She holds her Master of Studies in Musicology from the University of Oxford. Her studies in jazz improv span over a decade. She is a former student of Wade Beach, and the recipient of the Donna Wood Music Teacher’s Scholarship at Interplay Jazz & Arts in Meriden, NH for 2025 and 2026. She has learned from jazz piano masters like Armen Donelian, Bob Hallahan, and James Francies, and received vocal coaching from talents like Dominique Eade and John Prioulx. She sings in English, Armenian, French, and Russian, and also plays accordion.
*All writing on this website is 100% original. I do not employ artificial intelligence in the generation or editing of any communications/content.