S. Katie Noelker (she/her) is a Conductor, Pianist and Cellist currently residing in Oklahoma City. Beginning at the age of seven with piano lessons, Noelker quickly took to not only the instrument, but the discipline of music. She became its lifetime student, gravitating also towards the cello and the orchestra through private lessons at Eastern Kentucky University and through summers at Foster Music Camp in Central Kentucky, one of the oldest residential music camps in the country.
She pursued her Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance from Eastern Kentucky University under Dr. Richard Crosby whom she began lessons with at 14 years old. She also played cello in the String and Symphony Orchestras throughout her time at EKU. It was during her undergraduate degree that she began a private cello and piano studio, finding great passion in teaching students the disciplines that she loves so dearly. In the year following her graduation, Noelker shifted her focus from solo instrumentalist to conductor and music educator, growing her studio and beginning an apprenticeship under conductor Jeremy Mulholland at Eastern Kentucky University and with the Heritage Area String Program in Central Kentucky. The next Fall, she began her Master’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting with Mr. Mulholland, becoming an Adjunct professor of theory/musicianship in 2019.
After receiving her Master's Degree in Orchestral Conducting, Noelker began her professional conducting career as Visiting Professor and Interim Orchestra Director at Eastern Kentucky University, where she led through the 2020-2021 season before moving to the Oklahoma City Metro Area. After arriving in Oklahoma, she opened a private piano and cello studio in the Steinway Studios at Edmond Music, and began conducting lessons with Dr. Jonathan Shames at the University of Oklahoma. Ms. Noelker has served as Director and Conductor of the Heritage Area String Program Youth Orchestra in Central Kentucky and was Assistant Director before that appointment. A passionate academic, She has received awards for her research both at the university and state level for her work in both pedagogical piano studies and the piano and symphonic compositions of pianist/composer Amy Beach. Ms. Noelker is published for her research and creative project examining the intersection of musical composition with grief and bereavement.
Katie Noelker has taught as faculty at Stephen Collins Foster Music Camp for two summers, serving as middle and high school orchestra conductor for the latter season, and assistant conductor for the season prior, and as the interim conductor for the Fall 2020 season at Model Laboratory Schools. She has appeared as a guest conductor with the Richmond POPS Orchestra and as a cellist with the Video Games Live Orchestra.
Ms. Noelker is currently the music director of the University of Oklahoma Civic Orchestra where she is pursuing a doctoral degree in Orchestral Conducting under Dr. Jonathan Shames.
