Karsten Gimre, 11 years old, started piano with Paula Watt at the age of 4. At 5 years old, he began studies with Marc Silverman at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. He is, additionally, taught by Carol Rich of Portland, Oregon and is coached by Peter Mack in Seattle, Washington and Susan Smith of Portland, Oregon. Other instructors have included Robert Roux (Rice University), Frank Heneghen (Dublin Trinity College, Ireland), Robin McCabe (University of Washington), Robin Wood (Victoria Conservatory), Jean-David Coen (Willamette University), and Herbert Stessin (The Julliard School of Music). At the age of 6, Karsten placed first in the International Young Artists Concert in Washington D.C. and performed in the Kennedy Center. At 7, he won the Russian-American Young Virtuosos competition and performed in Carnegie Hall in New York City. During this same year, he made his orchestral debut with the Portland Chamber Orchestra playing the Bach Piano Concerto in d minor. He has earned numerous awards and has had the honor of soloing with several orchestras, including the Salem Chamber Orchestra in which he performed a Bach concerto for two pianos with his sister, Kerensa. Recently, he played with the Oregon Symphony performing a Mozart concerto with conductor Carlos Kalmar. During the summer of 2004, Karsten, (along with 37 other pianists from 15 countries), had the distinction of being invited to the prestigious Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in Salt Lake City, Utah. Considered as one of the top five competitions in the world for young artists, Karsten was the youngest at only 11 years old, the only boy, and the only American to be selected for the final six. Last summer, he played the Beethoven C Major Concerto with the Astoria Music Festival Orchestra and is invited to return next summer to perform the Mendelssohn g minor. He also gave a solo recital, which helped raise money for renovations of a historic building for the new performing arts center for the community. He is invited to perform with the Russian Chamber Orchestra on their next tour of the northwestern United States in a series of benefit concerts to aid children of victims from the Chernobyl disaster.

Karsten started reading at 11 months old and was home-schooled. He received a scholarship at the age of 10 from Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon and began college as their youngest freshman. He is majoring in math and physics and earning straight A's. Karsten will appear in a brief scene portraying an overactive child who superglues his hands to a wall in the film "Thumbsucker," starring Keanu Reeves. He, also, will be in "The Other Shore," a Pamplin Production documentary. 

Karsten is an avid Seattle Mariner's baseball fan and collects baseball cards. He has played on several baseball teams. He enjoys skiing, soccer, swimming, biking, coin collecting, and hiking. His current interests are astronomy and math. In particular, he enjoys working on solving the six remaining Millennium Problems. 

Karsten's appearance at the Miami International Piano Festival on May 22, 2005 marks his debut in Florida