Title: Music Lecturer, College Organist and Director of Arts at the Abbey
Company: Belmont Abbey College
Location: Mount Holly, North Carolina, United States
Karen Hite Jacob, music lecturer, college organist and director of Arts at the Abbey at Belmont Abbey College, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Educators for dedication, achievements, and leadership in music education.
Before beginning a career that has stretched across 55 years, Ms. Jacob learned how to play piano at a young age and how to teach it to others not long after. She taught her first piano lessons at only 10 years old. By age 16, Ms. Jacob had become an organist for her local church, alongside accompanying performances throughout high school. While attending college, she continued to operate as an organist at church and taught high school music classes part time.
Ms. Jacob’s professional life officially began in 1970 as a teacher with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. During this time, she taught music classes for elementary school students, as well as music and chorus classes at the junior high level. In 1977, Ms. Jacob founded Carolina Pro Musica, where she still holds the role of director today. Through this ensemble music group, she performs music written before 1800 on period-appropriate instruments, such as the harpsichord, viola da gamba, flauto traverso and recorder. Ms. Jacob considers maintaining this ensemble to be the greatest highlight of her professional life. Carolina Pro Musica has held concerts for more than 45 years, showcasing this relatively unheard style of music to a wider audience, and has released a number of recordings as CDs.
Since 2000, Ms. Jacob has been associated with Belmont Abbey College in multiple capacities. She has served as a lecturer in music courses, an organist and the director of the popular Arts at the Abbey concert series. Through Arts at the Abbey, Ms. Jacob helps bring a range of compelling musical performances to the college, all of which are free to attend, since the monks do not allow charging admissions for events held in the church. This makes these concerts accessible to students and the wider community without money being a concern. As a teacher, Ms. Jacob works with the college chorus and voice students, as well as teaching music appreciation and sacred and liturgical music. She has also taught lessons in piano, organ and harpsichord.
Prior to embarking upon her professional journey, Ms. Jacob established a foundation in her own education. She obtained a Bachelor of Music in music education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1969. Subsequently, Ms. Jacob earned a Master of Arts in teaching music from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1970. As a student, she learned important lessons she would carry into her teaching work, including paying attention to the ways in which students express what they like and dislike in order to adjust and improve the teaching experience for them.
In addition to her career, Ms. Jacob is a devoted wife and a loving mother to one son. While continuing performances through Carolina Pro Musica, she also looks forward to further work as a teacher in the years ahead. In particular, Ms. Jacob wants to help more students enter the workforce within the field of music, which can often be challenging to break into. She also hopes to host more concerts in new areas, including upcoming events in Charlotte and Gastonia, North Carolina.
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