Karen Tuttle

Karen Tuttle (March 28, 1920 – December 16, 2010) was an American viola teacher, most famous for developing the Karen Tuttle Coordination Technique, which emphasizes being comfortable while playing the instrument.

She began performing on violin at the age of sixteen before switching to viola in 1941.

In 1941, Tuttle heard violist William Primrose play in Los Angeles with the London String Quartet.

She was so impressed with his relaxed way of playing that she immediately asked him for lessons.

Primrose agreed, as long as she switched to viola and moved to Philadelphia to attend the Curtis Institute of Music, where Primrose was a faculty member.

While at Curtis, Tuttle spent hours observing Primrose and analyzing his relaxed way of playing.

Tuttle first married at age 18, and divorced before meeting William Primrose in 1941.

While at Curtis studying with Primrose, at age 25, she married violist Philip Goldberg.

This marriage was also short-lived.

In 1944, she became Primrose's teacher assistant.

Primrose often sent students with technical problems to Tuttle for help, because she could better articulate what they needed to create beautiful sound.

She graduated in 1948, and when Primrose left Curtis in 1951, Tuttle became the head of the viola and chamber music departments.

In the early 1950s, she became the first female member of the NBC Symphony Orchestra.

As a single woman, Tuttle had her daughter Robin in 1954, and she found a Reichian therapist to help her make peace with her decision to be a single mother.

She taught at the Curtis Institute of Music until 1955.

Although an excellent teacher, Tuttle also continued to perform on the viola.

In 1955, she collaborated with cellist Pablo Casals at the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades, where she returned several times.

She also frequently participated in the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont.

Coincidentally, in 1957, she married Dr. Morton Herskowitz, who was also a Reichian therapist.

She remained with him for the rest of her life.

In 1958, she traveled to Fiji, Samoa, and Tahiti, and performed for native audiences there.

She made her Carnegie Hall recital debut in February 1960.

Her recital was reviewed by Harold Schonberg, a leading reviewer for The New York Times.

He wrote, "About as large an audience as Carnegie Recital Hall has ever held jammed it yesterday evening at 5:30 to hear Karen Tuttle's recital. The violist, with Artur Balsam at the piano, gave a concert that seemed to be attended by every string player in town."

Tuttle also performed and recorded with the Galimir, Gotham, and Schneider Quartets, which was revolutionary for a woman at the time.

From 1965, she also played with the American String Trio.

From 1970 onward, she taught at the State University of New York at Albany, the Philadelphia Musical Academy, the Peabody Institute, Curtis, the Mannes College of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, and Juilliard.

In 1994, Tuttle was recognized by ASTA with the Artist Teacher Award.

Tuttle actively performed and taught at a number of institutions until her retirement in 2005.

Born Katherine Ann Tuttle in Lewiston, Idaho, she changed her name to Karen as a young woman.

Her father Ray, a fiddler from a family of farmers, and her mother Eunice, the director of a local church choir, moved to Walla Walla, Washington with Karen when she was twelve.

After eighth grade, Karen refused to continue school, and instead, devoted her time to learning the violin.

She studied with Jean Heers, Karel Havlíček, and Henri Temianka, and actively toured the West Coast as a teen.

However, she experienced tension and pain from playing the violin that her teachers could not solve.

She retired in 2005.

She also received honorary doctorate degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2005 and the New England Conservatory in 2010.

Tuttle developed the Karen Tuttle Coordination Technique by watching William Primrose play and collaborating with various people.

Cellist Pablo Casals, violinist Alexander Schneider, violinist and doctor Demetrius Constantine Dounis, and psychiatrist Wilhelm Reich all inspired her.

Her technique focuses on coordinating a musician's physical and emotional awareness to create a beautiful sound.

Karen Tuttle died on December 16, 2010, in Philadelphia from complications of Alzheimer's.