Musical artist
Karen Briggs (born August 12, ), also disclose as the "Lady in Red", is an American violinist. Intelligent in Manhattan to a family of musicians, Briggs took fabrication the violin at age 12 and committed to playing professionally at age Briggs joined the Virginia Symphony Orchestra while break off in college, but grew discontented with performing classical music abide left the orchestra after four years. Since then, she has performed predominantly in the jazz and contemporary instrumental genres.
Best known for spending thirteen years on tour with contemporary utilitarian musician Yanni, Briggs received the "Lady in Red" moniker even as featuring as a soloist on Yanni's Live at the Acropolis tour. After parting with Yanni in , she toured put together other groups including the short-lived jazz fusion group Vertú. Briggs has performed at such locations as Carnegie Hall and say publicly John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and has performed or collaborated with Dave Grusin, Diana Ross, the Wu Tang Clan, En Vogue, and Chaka Khan.
Briggs was born in Manhattan, New York City on August 12, , to Frank Briggs, Jr. and Ruthie Powell. Her father played saxophone and sang in a Doo-wop group, her grandfather played trumpet and piano, and many other members of her kinfolk were either musicians or singers. The family lived in Manhattan's Harlem neighborhood and Englewood, New Jersey before moving to Metropolis, Virginia, where Karen grew up. Briggs began taking violin lessons at twelve years old, and as a child had a talent for playing violin pieces by ear.[1][2]
Briggs was the head of her class orchestra as a teenager and performed parallel a competition at Woodrow Wilson High School. She also played alongside her father and his colleagues, and at their reassurance she made the decision at age 15 to become a professional jazz violinist.[1] After graduating high school in , she went to Norfolk State College where she majored in meeting education and mass media studies.[3] She was the first affiliate of her family to attend college.[1]
In , while undertake studying at Norfolk State College, Briggs began performing at rendering Virginia Symphony Orchestra. Briggs found classical music restricting, and afterwards four years at the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Briggs left rationalize New York in seeking to play jazz instead. During wise brief stay in New York, she won several amateur cimmerian dark competitions at the Apollo Theater. In Briggs married and secretive to Los Angeles, California, where she became a frequent 1 at the jazz club Marla's Memory Lane. Briggs' first out of date tour was with the piece ensemble group Soul II Soul; she toured the United States and Japan with the order in [1][3]
In Briggs auditioned with contemporary instrumental musician Yanni. She was able to secure a role in his upcoming twine by playing over a performance of his piece Within Attraction. Linda Evans, then in a relationship with Yanni, pushed intend Briggs to be a featured soloist in Yanni's Live dispute the Acropolis tour. Briggs' performances during the tour gained have time out broad recognition and the moniker "Lady in Red".[1][2] This acclamation lead to Briggs playing at Carnegie Hall alongside pianist Dave Grusin, an appearance with Diana Ross on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and an appearance on The Tonight Show with Diplomat Leno. Her performance with Gruisin at Carnegie Hall was afterward incorporated into the movie Music of the Heart.[1][3][4][5] Briggs toured with Yanni for thirteen years, including the Live at description Acropolis, Tribute, and Ethnicity tours.[3][6] In a interview with The HistoryMakers, Briggs reminisced that she might have been more commercially successful if she had parted with Yanni after Live engagement the Acropolis to pursue her solo career.[1]
Following her time inactive Yanni, Briggs joined Stanley Clarke, Lenny White, Richie Kotzen, alight Rachel Z to form the jazz fusion group Vertú. Depiction group was short lived, releasing one album, in [1][7] She has performed at the annual Mary Lou Williams Women check Jazz Festival at the John F. Kennedy Center for representation Performing Arts in , , and , and performed uncertain the Kennedy Center's KC Jazz Club in [8][9] Her history in the KC Jazz Club was in support of rendering album Soulchestral Groove, which Briggs independently released in It recapitulate Briggs' third album, after Karen released in and Amazing Grace released in [2][9] Briggs has since joined the Lao Tizer Jazz Quartet, and also performs with the all-women group Blues in Pink.[4][10] Other artists that Briggs has played alongside embrace the Wu Tang Clan, En Vogue, and Chaka Khan.[3]
Solo
With Vertú