Karen Toney is a freelance percussionist, educator, and artist based in Northern Virginia. She showcases her passion for music through chamber performances composing for mallet percussion, and connecting with the community through music education.

Toney has been afforded many opportunities as a performer, including with the Patterns Quartet, originally formed at the University of Central Florida. The group produced a pioneering album of previously unrecorded works for two vibraphones and two marimbas called Patterns, which was shared by John Schafer on his radio show New Sounds on WNYC. During her time at UCF she performed Jose/BeFORe John 5 (Aurél Holló), which was later recorded and featured as a Performance Spotlight on the Vic Firth website. She was also featured on the Candlelight Concert Series with the Peabody Percussion Group, and with the Peabody Honors Ensemble Milieu.

Toney has been forming her education philosophy in practice for over a decade, teaching students ranging from elementary school to collegiate, and large ensembles to one-on-one lessons. She was on the teaching faculty at the UCF Summer Percussion Institute in 2017, 2018, 2024, and 2025.

Karen received her Master of Music degree from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University under the direction Robert van Sice in 2016. Prior to that, she received her Bachelor’s in Music from the University of Central Florida under the guidance of Jeffrey Moore, Kirk Gay, and Dr. Thad Anderson, where she received music and academic scholarships as well as the Presser Award.