Karla Donehew-Perez
Karla Donehew-Perez (violin) was already a noted young artist when she won the Khuner Competition in 2002. Born in Puerto Rico, Karla began playing the violin at age three. By age nine she had performed as a soloist with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, and shortly after that was featured on a national television show about gifted Latin American children. She was the youngest member of Festival Orchestra Juvenil de Las Americas during the Casals Festival. At age 12, Karla moved to California and entered The Crowden School in Berkeley. After graduating from that music-based middle school in 1999, she continued to study with Anne Crowden, founder The Crowden School, until entering Cleveland Institute of Music for her Music Bachelors and Masters degrees. She served as the CIM Orchestra’s concertmaster and received the prestigious Dr. Jerome Gross Award in violin.
Karla became first violinist with the Catalyst Quartet, comprised of Laureates and alumni of the internationally acclaimed Sphinx Competition (its mission being to address under-representation of people of color in classical music). Catalyst has earned rave reviews from of The New York Times, Washington Post, and New York Concert Review. In 2016, Karla revisited The Crowden Music Center to perform with the Catalyst Quartet.
Karla has been featured on the Young Artist Series for the Festival del Sole in Napa Valley, was guest concertmaster of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, and was a fellow at the New World Symphony, where she often sat concertmaster or principal second violin and performed as a soloist.
We are honored that she includes her concerto performance with Prometheus Symphony in her published bio, which states: “She has given solo performances with the Classical Philharmonic Symphony, Berkeley Symphony, Sacramento Philharmonic, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Oakland East Bay Symphony, Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, Sphinx Chamber Orchestra, Prometheus Symphony Orchestra, and with renowned artists such as Gary Karr and Frederica von Stade….” (Resume updated by Concerto Committee in 2016 from reliable online sources.)
