KARO GALADJIAN

Versatility, Sensitivity, Humility, Confidence, Responsibility, Kindness

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Karo is a Los-Angeles based versatile drummer, performing regularly in straight-ahead, modern, and Brazilian jazz styles. His performance credit includes a roster of artists, including Maria Schafer (Glenn Miller Orchestra), Jeremy Siskind, Lia Booth, Zack Caplinger (Clayton Hamilton Orchestra), Andrew Renfroe, Teryn Ré, Lyman Medeiros, Gary Matsumoto, Josh Nelson, Francisco Torres, Marlon Martinez, Joshua Levy, Matthew Yeakley, Dave Stephens, Alex Mendham, The Jazz Cartel, Chuck Manning, Andy Langham, Danny Janklow, Ido Meshulam, and more. His versatility extends to rock/pop, afro-cuban, jump blues, funk/afrobeat, dixieland jazz, and CCM genres. His talents have also taken him to the theatrical stage, performing recent musical productions of Hadestown and Mean Girls.​

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Karo can be heard as a recording artist on Maria Schafer's vocal jazz album "Here For You" (2024) featuring Jeremy Siskind, Zack Caplinger, and David Reynoso, Nick Najera's contemporary jazz album "Patience" (2023), and Kenneth Brown II/Joshua Childress' jazz album "The Rise" (2022).

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Karo Galadjian’s path of education explains how he developed these qualities. Karo began studying music at Los Angeles City College (2016-2018) under the direction of Tina Raymond (Rachel Eckroth, Esthesis Quartet), where he received a deep understanding of classical percussion and jazz brushes, being shown how elements of sensitivity are paramount for jazz vocabulary. Raymond instilled an early sense of humility in him, preparing him for the beginnings of a creative music career. When Karo transferred to CSULB for his undergraduate study from 2018-2021, these qualities were amplified by director Jeff Jarvis and private mentor Chad Wackerman (Frank Zappa, Allan Holdsworth, James Taylor), who taught the importance of confidence and responsibility in the music business. During his studies at CSULB, Karo was an annual recipient of the KJazz scholarship. 

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In 2025, Karo received his masters of music in jazz study at CSUN, where he worked again with director Tina Raymond and studied privately with Jason Harnell (Maynard Ferguson, LAJQ) in order to deeply exercise his abilities as a kind, methodical educator and explorative performer. He was a recipient of the Herb Alpert Scholarship and taught private students at Cal State Northridge from 2023-2025. Karo currently teaches privately at his in-home studio in North Hollywood, CA and does other freelance work on a regular basis.

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Regardless of the musical scenario, Karo is on a never-ending journey of personal and musical mastery and can’t wait to share the experience with musical partners.