Karen Borca

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Karen Borca (born September 5, 1948 in Green Bay , Wisconsin) is an American free jazz bassoonist.

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Borca grew up in the iron belt of the USA. Her mother, a school teacher, initially took over her musical education. She played the alto saxophone for 10 years before switching to the bassoon in high school. She studied music at the University of Wisconsin , where she was encouraged by Alec Wilder and members of the New York Woodwind Quintet to continue her studies in New York City . She then graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1971 with a bachelor's degree with a license to teach. There she met Cecil Taylor , who taught there in the 1970/71 academic year; she played in his teaching ensemble and became his assistant. For the next several years she was Taylor's teaching assistant at Antioch College and performed with him in a variety of contexts. She also led her own group. She was also part-time music teacher in Antioch (since 1972) and in New York (since 1974). In the fall of 1974, she became the teaching assistant to Jimmy Lyons at Bennington College , whom she then married. She belonged to his group until the early death of the saxophonist. In 1984 she toured Europe with Taylor.

Borca continued to play with the groups of Joel Futterman , Paul Murphy , William Parker , Joe Morris , the Cosmosamatics by Sonny Simmons and with Alan Silva . In 1998 she was able to introduce herself to the JazzFest Berlin in her quintet with Susie Ibarra , Rob Brown and two bassists. She later toured further and played in Switzerland in 1999 with Brown, Reggie Workman and Pheeroan akLaff . In 1998 and 2003 she played at the Vision Festival . In 2004 she was involved in Paul Murphy's album Red Snapper , in 2007 in Bill Dixon's 17 Musicians in Search of a Sound: Darfur .

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personal data
SURNAME Borca, Karen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American bassoonist
DATE OF BIRTH September 5, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Green Bay , Wisconsin