Violinist Megan Karls enjoys a creative career across the Intermountain West as the newly appointed Concertmaster of the Wyoming Symphony and member of the Spokane Symphony and New Mexico Philharmonic. An in-demand leader, Megan is also a regular guest concertmaster for the Bozeman Symphony, Billings Symphony and Opera Montana among others. In the summers, she performs with the Britt Festival Orchestra and as Principal Second Violin with the McCall Mountain Symphony.

Before moving to Spokane this season, Megan spent 12 years concertizing and touring with the Cascade Quartet, chamber music artists-in-residence with the Great Falls Symphony. As a recitalist and educator, Karls has appeared on stages from El Salvador to Bulgaria, Oaxaca to Italy as well as one-room and reservation schools across Montana- continually melding a love of travel with her love for music.

Passionate about commissioning and the creation of new works that reflect our home communities and current times, Karls became the first woman in classical music to be awarded the Montana State Arts Council’s biennial Artist Innovation Award in 2021 and was a recipient of the Yale School of Music Distinguished Educator Award in 2015. She holds degrees with honors in Violin Performance and Government from Lawrence University and the University of Iowa.