Dani's Waltz
A waltz composed by Karen Reed — Karen's own composition.
Listen — Dani's Waltz · 40-second preview (0:40)
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Canadian fiddler — Sudbury roots, Kitchener home
I'm Karen Reed — fiddler, teacher, composer, arranger and entertainer, and director of the Karen Reed Fiddle Orchestra. I started at age four in Sudbury's Reed family, and more than anything, I still believe what I believed then: a tune is best when it's shared.
Whether you're coming to hear a concert, thinking about lessons, or looking for a room full of fiddlers to belong to — you'd be welcome here.
Next concert — coming up soon
Join us for a magical evening of fiddles, friends and festive cheer. The first half features the Karen Reed Fiddle Orchestra — an all-ages orchestra in Celtic, Canadian and international fiddle styles. In the second half, Karen Reed & Crossbow take the stage with high-energy tunes, soulful pieces and joyful Christmas favourites.
With special guests Don & Kathy Reed and step dancer Ailsa McCairley Greenwell. Booking ahead is a good idea.
Tickets: $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Children 6–12 $10, under 5 free.
Lessons — fiddle & accordion
“I look at the entire person — and I work with the entire person, if they are open to it, to move their music to a deeper level.”
Yes, you will learn theory, repertoire and technique here — properly, and in depth. But that is not where my teaching stops. It never has been.
I delve much deeper than theory, repertoire and technique. How you feel when you pick up the fiddle matters: the nerves before you play, the voice that says I'm not good enough, the tension that creeps into your bow arm when you're worried about getting it wrong. All of that shows up in the music — so all of it is welcome in the lesson, and all of it can soften, step by step.
This is never imposed, and it isn't therapy. It's simply a deeper way of teaching music, offered by invitation — only when a student is open to it. Some students come for tunes and technique alone, and that's honoured completely. Others discover that when they feel safer and steadier in themselves, their playing opens up with them.
In Karen's own words
“I am very direct, and I challenge my students to rise beyond what they think they are capable of.”
That directness is part of the support. Karen will tell you plainly what needs work — and she will stay with you while you work on it. You are held to a high standard because she believes you can meet it: supported and encouraged, and at the same time challenged to move beyond what you believe you can do.
You don't need to be “ready” or “talented” to start. We begin exactly where you are, at a pace that feels safe — first tunes, first sounds, no judgement.
If you can play at home and fall apart in front of people, you're not alone — and it's workable. We build confidence the same way we build a tune: one small, steady step at a time.
Mistakes aren't failures here; they're information. You'll be encouraged to try, to sound messy while you're learning, and to laugh along the way.
Karen is straightforward about what needs work — and ambitious for you. You'll be challenged to rise beyond what you think you're capable of, with support at every step.
A holistic approach, tailored to each student — because no two players, and no two people, learn the same way.
Testimonials
These are real words from students, orchestra members, audiences and venues — collected from Karen's testimonials, public posts and fellow musicians. Use the buttons to explore.
One of the best things I ever did
Great time and you learn so much
Karen was extremely encouraging, explained her instructions well, made me feel quite comfortable and was certainly great fun
Karen has the unique ability to adjust her teaching to suit all ages. She teaches with warmth and patience and always a smile
She taught me to articulate and put the ‘drive’ behind my tunes. She helped me with competition tunes and to take my music to a new level.
She led the jam sessions and got the crowd going with her humour, enthusiasm and great fiddle playing. Karen also took the time to know her students on a personal level
A highlight of my year
Karen Reed and Crossbow… quite simply, brought the house down with their incredible musicianship, professional stage presence and timely audience rapport. Karen is undoubtedly one of the finest fiddlers in Canada.
Some of our congregation took the opportunity to go to the concert and raved about the talent and variety of music, including step dancing too
Student, parent and venue quotes are from the testimonials on karenreed.ca; orchestra quotes are from public Facebook posts and comments about the orchestra (Sept–Nov 2026) and Alex George's own instructor page.
Since 2017
The orchestra began in 2017, when fiddlers across Southwestern Ontario asked Karen to direct an orchestra of their own. Her vision then is still its heart now:
“To bring together fiddlers of all ages and abilities… to empower the players both individually and as a unified body of players, by building confidence, creating community.”
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Composer · Arranger · Entertainer
Alongside teaching and performing, Karen writes and arranges her own music — and arranges for the orchestra, too. Three of the pieces below are her own compositions — Dani's Waltz, Pelletier's Breakdown and Yellowjacket / Creighton Mine Jig — each here as a 40-second preview, fading in and out. Alongside them sits one tune from the tradition — Monaghan's Jig, a traditional jig performed by Karen, not one of her own compositions.
A waltz composed by Karen Reed — Karen's own composition.
Listen — Dani's Waltz · 40-second preview (0:40)
Player not starting? Open the clip on its own →
A driving breakdown composed by Karen Reed — Karen's own composition, featuring Clint Pelletier.
Listen — Pelletier's Breakdown · 40-second preview (0:40)
Player not starting? Open the clip on its own →
A lively jig composed by Karen Reed — Karen's own composition.
Listen — Yellowjacket / Creighton Mine Jig · 40-second preview (0:40)
Player not starting? Open the clip on its own →
A traditional jig, performed by Karen Reed — a tune from the tradition, not Karen's own composition.
Listen — Monaghan's Jig · 40-second preview (0:40)
Player not starting? Open the clip on its own →
Gigs & bookings
Karen is available for gigs on her own, and with her band Crossbow — the same high-energy fiddling and warm stage presence audiences hear at her concerts, brought to your occasion. If you're planning something and wondering whether live fiddle music would fit, it very likely would — just ask.
Workshops & retreat/workshop
There's nothing quite like it — a room full of fiddlers, learning by ear, playing together, laughing together. Karen teaches in three settings through the year, each with its own feel. The Orangeville weekends are the big gathering, open to everyone; the Kitchener-Waterloo workshops are smaller and closer to home; and Hidden Acres is a retreat/workshop — taught throughout, with plenty of time away to relax and go deeper.
Karen's Orangeville workshop weekends have been running for about 20 years, each April and September, growing out of the former Orangeville Fiddle and Step Dance Camp. The camp itself has closed; the weekends — and the community around them — carry on.
Next workshop: April 24 & 25, 2027. Everyone is welcome — you don't need an invitation. Just get in touch to book your place.
Ask about OrangevilleAlongside the big weekends, Karen teaches smaller workshops through the year in Kitchener-Waterloo — focused days with a smaller group, close to home.
Dates are listed as they're set — email Karen to find out what's coming up next and to book your place.
Email about K-W workshopsKaren also runs a fiddle retreat/workshop at Hidden Acres Mennonite Retreat Centre. She teaches the entire time — so there is real teaching throughout — but there is also lots of free time for leisure and relaxing.
That balance is why, to the participants, it has always felt like a retreat: time away from the everyday, in a quiet setting, to live with the music a little longer — tunes, listening, and room to breathe.
For dates and details, please email Karen.
Email about Hidden AcresSchedule
Hidden Acres Mennonite Retreat Centre
Questions about any of these dates — or ready to book a place at a workshop or the retreat? Email studio@karenreed.ca.
About Karen
Born and raised in Sudbury in the renowned musical Reed family, Karen began fiddle at age four, learning from her father Ron Reed, who ran Reed Guitar Studio for over 60 years. At age eight she began accordion too, studying classical accordion under her aunt Iona Reed, World Accordion Champion (Prague, 1962). At just 13, she was playing with the Karl Pukara Accordion Orchestra — Canadian champions — winning many awards through the Kiwanis Music Festival and placing 2nd in the US Championships hosted by the American Accordion Association in her age category. King Ganam, Don Messer and Graham Townsend were visitors at the family home. Music wasn't a hobby in that house. It was the air.
First notes, first stages. Begins fiddle at age four and is competing across Ontario by age six — including the Canadian Open at Shelburne, as well as Marmora, Spencerville, Hensall, Petrolia and Drayton. At age eight, she begins accordion.
Canadian champion at twelve. Canadian champion in the 12-and-under in Shelburne.
Champion years. Women's Open Canadian Champion, Ontario Open Champion — part of a family in which siblings Don, Rob, Kathy and Derek all won championships too.
A different kind of work. Away from the fiddle circuit for personal, educational and career goals — years spent in social service work and counselling, including secure custody with young offenders. Work that taught her to see the whole person, and that still shapes every lesson she gives.
Back to her roots. Returns to fiddling, and to teaching — work she has now done for 40 years in total.
Builder of communities. Founds the Karen Reed Fiddle Orchestra in Kitchener, performs with Crossbow as a composer, arranger and entertainer, and continues the Orangeville workshop weekends. Her faith and her love of nature run quietly through it all — in the way she treats people, and in music she believes should never lose its soul.
In Karen's own words, from her mission for this music: fiddling's heart is its social dynamic — “a sense of belonging, community, and family” — and “it is Karen's desire that fiddling never lose its soul and all that is authentic to its traditions.”
Judge & adjudicator — almost 40 years
Karen is a fiddle judge with almost 40 years' experience — she began judging contests in her twenties. She has judged at the Canadian Open and the Ontario Open, and across the Ontario contest circuit.
She has also served as an adjudicator with the Kiwanis Music Festival and the Midland Y's Men's Music Festival — the same patient, whole-person ear she brings to her lessons, brought to hearing and encouraging other players.
For lessons, orchestra, workshops, or booking Karen — on her own or with Crossbow — for a wedding, funeral, function or event, one email reaches Karen's studio. No forms, just a conversation to start.