Meet our new receptionist, Topaz!

You may have noticed a new face around the clinic the past couple of months, helping us out at the front desk. Topaz, AKA Karen Lauffer, comes to Alpenglow Acupuncture by way of the music industry. She runs and teaches at a music school in Westminster called Silver Strings Academy that teaches violin, viola, and cello in the evenings.

Prior to Covid, she was an avid performer as well, performing in a variety of styles and unique venues. She was the violist with Mile High String Quartet, which played classical and pop music all around Colorado.

Topaz plays violin in a group called Tree-O, which performs mounted in trees. Tree-O plays a hybrid of improvised and co-composed ‘campfire classical’ music in nature, and all of their performances are free. Tree-O strives to make the beauty of classical music accessible and enjoyable to a wider scope audience than classical music. This past year, Tree-O was named one of the ‘9 of the US’s wildest, weirdest and most spectacular outdoor art experiences’ by CNN.

Additionally, she played electric violin and danced with the Broadway division of Cirque du Soliel, Cirque Dreams. Her Cirque performances are where she started using the stage name Topaz, which has come in handy at Alpenglow, so that having two Karens isn’t confusing.

She holds a Masters degree in violin performance and pedagogy from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

She became interested in acupuncture after a car accident left her with debilitating headaches and neck pain that rendered her unable to hold her violin without severe pain. After trying all of western medicine’s treatments for a year with very little success, she decided to give acupuncture a try. After four treatments, her headaches were gone entirely. So, she is very happy to be a part of the team at Alpenglow, helping out a small business in a field she is quite passionate about.

When she’s not at work or making music, you can probably find Topaz on a mountain bike!

Click here to see a clip of one of Tree-O’s performances - it’s sure to make you smile!