Tom Klimek is a professional cellist and music educator whose work centers on the intersection of music, space, and experience. His work focuses not only on how music tells a story, but on every aspect of how students and audiences encounter it, from the design of lesson spaces to the structure of performance experiences.

This perspective has guided Tom Klimek’s leadership in music education. He developed and led one of the top 100 private lesson programs in the United States and has consulted with lesson programs across the country on building more thoughtful, student-centered teaching environments. He has also served as a panelist at national conferences discussing the future of the private lesson experience and how educators can create seamless, authentic, and meaningful access to music education.

Tom Klimek’s commitment to connecting people to living musical traditions extends to his work with the York Youth Symphony, where he developed a chamber music program that emphasizes both artistic growth and contemporary relevance.

His passion for music across genres also led him to co-found FH Pappys, a venue dedicated to live, original music in York, Pennsylvania. Through performance, education, and community programming, Tom Klimek believes music offers every listener and participant the chance for a uniquely personal and transformative experience. His work is dedicated to finding the right place, program, and environment to enrich communities through meaningful encounters with music.

Matthew Inkster is Professor of Music and Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble at York College of Pennsylvania. Inkster is in demand as a guest conductor and clinician—most recently conducting honor and select ensembles in Pennsylvania, Utah, New York, North Carolina, West Virginia, Wyoming, and California.

He has specialized in conducting the music of our time, and he has led ensembles on several compact disc recordings of new music on American and European labels. He has performed in 45 states and across Europe, and his performances have been broadcast on national and regional NPR and worldwide on the BBC.

Dr. Inkster is also active as a trumpet soloist, recitalist, clinician, and private teacher.  He was for 12 years Principal Trumpet of the Symphony of the Mountains (Tennessee/Virginia/North Carolina), and he held similar positions with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, the Chapman and Redlands Symphony Orchestras (California).

He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, and he has competed in a number of the world’s most prestigious trumpet competitions: the Prague Spring International Music Competition, the International Trumpet Guild Solo Competition, the National Trumpet Competition, and the MTNA National Collegiate Artist Competition.

He holds the degrees: Doctor of Music (The Florida State University), Master of Music (University of Redlands), and Bachelor of Music Education (University of Wyoming).

Rebekah Kathleen O’Brien serves as director of orchestras at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and has led the Lancaster, York, Altoona and Williamsport Symphony Orchestras in concert. After traveling to Chile to conduct the Chamber Orchestra of the Municipal de Santiago in a series of concerts highlighting women conductors, she founded the New Ground Orchestra Festival, dedicated to supporting health and community for professional musicians. Awards include the Williamson Fellowship of the Arts and winning the International Conducting Competition with the Denver Philharmonic.

Supporting the growth of young musicians, Ms. O’Brien regularly appears as a guest conductor for educational festivals. Passionate about bringing music to a wide variety of communities, she has taken her orchestras on tours of Europe and inside the walls of high security prisons. Ms. O’Brien is thankful for the examples and foundation provided by her teachers: Maestros Gerardo Edelstein, Murry Sidlin, and Simeone Tartaglione. Also trained in the art of Eurythmy, Ms. O’Brien teaches at the Susquehanna Waldorf School in Marietta, PA. To keep herself grounded, she can be found under the hood of a car, learning from her supportive husband, Jeff Erickson. Ms. O’Brien lives in State College, Pennsylvania, with her family and inspiring daughter, Genavieve.

Born and raised in Central Pennsylvania, Gretchen (Elicker) Dekker began her formal music training at the piano locally and continued her studies at the Peabody Preparatory School in Baltimore. Following her graduation from Northeastern High School, she entered the Peabody Conservatory.

Since receiving a Master of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music, Gretchen has concertized as both a soloist and collaborative artist in the mid-Atlantic region. She has been featured as a concerto soloist with the York Symphony Orchestra, the Harrisburg Symphony, the York College Symphony Orchestra, and the Hershey Symphony, among others.

She is a passionate, active advocate for arts and arts education in the region. Gretchen is currently the Music Director of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of York. She is the sitting president of the York Music Teachers Association, a member of the York Symphony Orchestra Education Committee, the board of the Matinee Musical Club of York, and a past board member of the York County Honors Choirs.

Since 1998, Dekker has been an adjunct professor of piano, harpsichord, early music history, and aural theory as well as a staff accompanist at York College of Pennsylvania. In 2012, she co-founded the YCPrep Community Music School, which is based at York College and offers pre- and post-collegiate studio music instruction and performance opportunities in all disciplines. Gretchen also maintains a robust private piano studio.