Ms. Karin Dawson-van Veen

Karin Dawson—van Veen teaches at Suzuki Strings at USC in Columbia SC. She also uses the Creative Ability Development (CAD) method founded by Alice Kanack in her teaching. CAD uses improvisation as a tool to develop the creative side of the brain.

Karin was born in Delft, The Netherlands and studied cello at the Music Pedagogy Academy of Leeuwarden and the Conservatory of Groningen. Karin studied cello with Maarten Mostert, Elias Arizcuren, Jeroen den Herder and Jiri Prchal. She took masterclasses from Anner Bijlsma, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Milos Sadlo, and Christopher Bunting. During her studies, she was also a member of the National Youth Orchestra of The Netherlands where she performed in concert tours in Spain and Scotland.

She graduated with a degree in Cello Pedagogy, and was a co-founder of De Speeldoos (which is Dutch for The Music Box) where she gained 12 years experience as a cello and chamber music teacher. She has experience teaching children of all ages, as well as high school students and adults.

She moved with her husband and two children to South Carolina in 2010 due partially to her dedication to her children’s education. The director of the unique school they came to South Carolina for is equally enthusiastic about the educational benefits of classical string instruments.

Her exposure to the Suzuki method was very limited until she was pleasantly surprised at how well her son responded to and learned from the method. She signed her daughter up for Suzuki lessons as well, and became very enthusiastic about it after seeing the positive results it generated. She started taking Suzuki teacher training in 2015 and holds certifications in the Suzuki Cello Method in Books 1-4 with plans for more certifications whenever time permits. Music using the Suzuki method is a large part of her now home-schooled children’s education (cello and violin/viola).