Karen was dux of Clayfield College[5] and she completed her tertiary education with bachelor's and master's degrees in music at the University of Queensland.
[6] While in her teens, Karin Schaupp won prizes at competitions at Lagonegro in Italy and Madrid in Spain.
[7] In 1995, Schaupp performed Philip Bračanin's Guitar Concerto, which she had premiered in 1992, with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.
Schaupp's solo debut album, Soliloquy, released in 1997, was praised by UK Classical Guitar Magazine as "a pace-setting performance in all respects".
[1] In 2004, Schaupp performed with Ross Edwards' Concerto for Guitar and Strings with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.
Schaupp starred in some 150 performances of Lotte's Gift, including a four-week season at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2009.
[5] Schaupp released Spain in 2009 which features works by Rodrigo, Salvador Bacarisse and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco.
[5] In 2016, she and actor Tama Matheson co-created the theatre work titled Don Juan, based on Lord Byron's poem.
In March 2018, ABC Classics released Schaupp's album titled Wayfaring, with cellist Umberto Clerici.