Born in Manila, Philippines, Karen Fatima Francisco studied at the University of the Philippines College of Music with pianist and conductor, Regalado Jose.  Early career landmarks included winning first prize at the Mozart Piano Competition at the University of the Philippines and the Rosario Picazo Piano Competition at Santa Isabel College and second prize at the National Music Competition for Young Artists for categories A2 and C.  At the age of fifteen, she was invited by national artist, Lucrecia Kasilag, to be the pianist of the Manila Children’s Choir for their concert tour in the United States and Canada.

After graduating “magna cum laude” from the University of the Philippines College of Music, she was granted a scholarship from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts to pursue her masters as a soloist at the Hochschule für  Musik “Franz Liszt” in Weimar, Germany.  She studied with pianists, Gerlinde Otto and Rolf-Dieter Arens, and took chamber music from  Ulrich Beetz, violinist of the world-renowned ensemble, the ABEGG Trio. While in Berlin, she also took lessons from Klaus Bäβler at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" and Berlin-based Polish pianist, Barbara Polonek.

As a promising student in Weimar, she had the privilege to take masterclasses from internationally-acclaimed artists  such as Lazar Berman, Ferenc Radosz, Ehrling Eriksen and Thomas Zehetmair,   Apart from that, she was invited to do a radio recording of Dieter Acker’s Stigmen in a classical music program “Figaro” for the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk.  

Her international career as pianist, chamber musician and accompanist has so far included concerts in Philippines, USA, Canada, Germany, and Switzerland.  She has performed at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Philamlife Auditorium in Manila, the Renaissance Theater Berlin, and the Philharmonie in Essen.  She also developed a passion for opera as she started to work for the MusicArtes production of Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, where she collaborated with Maestro Lim Yau.  

Karen Fatima Francisco was appointed Assistant Professor at the De La Salle University School of Arts and Design in Manila and Senior Lecturer at the University of the Philippines College of Music.  She was invited as featured artist for the radio program "Bravo Filipino" on 98.7 DZFE, as juror and chairperson (piano category B) for the National Music Competition for Young Artists in the Philippines, and as solo artist and artistic director of the De La Salle Zobel Youth Orchestra for the Guam Performing Arts Festival.  She has also premiered compositions such as the Philippine opera "San Andres B" by Josefino Toledo at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and "Bagatelles for piano" by Jonas Baes at the University of the Philippines College of Music. Furthermore, she was invited by the Russian Ministry of Culture and the Russian Federation of UNESCO to represent the Philippines as a pianist at the fourth Asia-Pacific Music Festival in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.