Kari Barton
Faculty of the Suzuki Academy

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Kari Barton is a native of Flagstaff, Arizona. She graduated from Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy in 1999. She then received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2004 in Performing Arts Management from Columbia College in Chicago. During her undergraduate years, Ms. Barton completed a study abroad program at the University of Limerick in Ireland. She received her Master of Music in Violin Performance/Suzuki Pedagogy at Northern Arizona University in 2006. She currently teaches Suzuki violin, Irish fiddle, and Music Mind Games for the NAU Community Music and Dance Academy.


Ms. Barton began studying violin at age eight with Ruth Atkin Giauque through the Preparatory School’s Suzuki program at NAU. She has also studied violin with Dr. Louise Scott, Phyllis Sanders, Karin Hallberg, Victor Liva, and Dr. Susan Baer. She completed her Suzuki Pedagogy training with Karin Hallberg, Dr. Louise Scott, Dr. Susan Baer, and Dr. Julia Hardie. She has attended Music Mind Games training with Michiko Yurko. She currently plays with the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, the Verde Valley Sinfonietta, and the San Juan Symphony.

Ms. Barton began playing Irish fiddle around age 14 and Tenor Banjo in 2009. She has studied with Ellery Klein, Liz Knowles, Liz Carroll, Colin Grant, Troy MacGillivray, Darol Anger, Martin Hayes, Oisin MacDiarmada, Randall Bays, Ciaran O Maonaigh, Brendan Hendry, Kevin Burke, Randy Gosa, Devin McCabe, Devin Shepherd, and Valerie Casey. She continues to attend workshops each year to improve her playing and is a member of the local Irish band, The Knockabouts. She also hosts a weekly Irish session in Flagstaff.

Ms. Barton also directs two non-profit organizations: Living Traditions Presentations, which brings Celtic music concerts to Flagstaff; and Grand Canyon Celtic Arts Academy, which brings instructors in Celtic music to Flagstaff each summer for three days of workshops. Living Traditions Presentations has organized 39 concerts to date.

In her free time, Ms. Barton enjoys the outdoors, hiking, camping, biking, and rafting, and is an avid reader.