Paula Karolak is from San Diego, California. She started her violin studies early in life and in high school fell in love with the rich tone of the viola.

 

She is currently a member of the Santa Rosa Symphony and performs all over the Bay Area as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player. She is proud to be a founding member of the UZAY Gallery and is Board President of Symphony Parnassus. When not performing music Paula loves to rock climb and is a student at CCSF in Computer Science.

 

Paula completed her undergraduate studies at UCLA where she studied viola with Paul Coletti and Richard O’Neill as well as violin with Guillaume Sutre. She later attended SFCM to study with Paul Hersh and Jodi Levitz. She continued her studies with the San Francisco Academy Orchestra and was mentored in orchestral performance by Don Ehrich and Joy Fellows.

 

As a soloist she has appeared with the UCLA philharmonic, UCLA women’s choir and the Academy Orchestra. She has performed with the Dilijian chamber music series and was a member of the Trinity Alps Chamber players. For two years she was also part of a Silicon Valley start up where she worked with 3d printers to create custom fit bike helmets.

 

Paula has over two decades of experience teaching all levels, beginners to collegiate. She has coached chamber and orchestral music for the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra and Golden Gate Philharmonic as well as maintaining a private studio.