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Headshot of Gregory WoodbridgeMaestro Gregory Woodbridge

Youth Symphony Music Director and Conductor
Director of Education

Gregory Woodbridge is now in his eleventh season as Associate Conductor of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra. He is also Music Director & Conductor of the Harrisburg Symphony Youth Orchestras (HSYO) and the Symphony’s Director of Education. He continues to inspire impassioned performances from orchestras at all levels, student through professional, and has been praised for his exceptional musicianship and artistry on the podium.

Maestro Woodbridge began studying piano at the age of 7 and violin at the age of 9. He holds degrees from Penn State University and furthered his conducting studies with Michael Jinbo (the Pierre Monteux Conducting lnstitute in Maine); Leonid Korchmar (Kirov Opera and St. Petersburg Conservatory); Ennio Nicotra (founder of the llya Musin Society); and Gustav Meier and JoAnn Falletta at the Conductor’s Institute Richmond Symphony Masterclass.

Woodbridge has been Music Director and Conductor of the Central PA Youth Orchestra, the Wednesday Club Youth Orchestra, the Central Pennsylvania Symphony, and the York Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Other conducting engagements include the Hershey Symphony, York Symphony (PA), the PMEA Region IV-V State Orchestra Festival, the Lebanon Valley College-Community Orchestra, and the Messiah College Orchestra.

In addition to his duties with the HSO, Woodbridge is Music Director and Conductor of the Hershey Symphony.  He lives in Mechanicsburg, PA with his wife Heather and their two children, Delaney and Liam.

 

Krista Kriel

Harrisburg Junior Youth String Orchestra Conductor

Krista Kriel has been teaching music for over 25 years, most recently in the Gettysburg School District. She holds a Bachelor and Masters Degree in Music Education. She has conducted the Harrisburg Symphony Junior Youth String Orchestra since 2011.

 Krista conducted the District 7 String Fest in 2008, the Dauphin County High School Orchestra Festival in 2010, and the Dauphin County Elementary Orchestra Festival in 2016 and 2018 and Bucks County Junior High Festival in 2019. In 2011 Krista spent a semester as an Adjunct Assistant at the Sunderman Conservatory at Gettysburg College, teaching a collaborative Instrumental Methods class. She was a clinician at the 2012 PMEA Conference, presenting a clinic on Developing School-Collaborative Partnership Models across the state of Pennsylvania. In the fall of 2015 she presented Orchestral Repertoire for the High School Orchestra at the PMEA District 7 Fall Workshop. In 2016, Krista presented Implementing Chamber Ensembles in the Middle School Curriculum at the PMEA District 7 Fall Workshop and at the Pennsylvania State Convention in 2018. Krista continues to conduct Middle School Orchestra, lead violin master classes, and coach chamber ensembles annually at the Messiah College Orchestra Camp and coaches annually at the Chamber Camp.  As a middle school orchestra director, Krista has given master classes to orchestras in Pennsylvania and Maryland, and has adjudicated festivals in Virginia, and for Music in the Parks.

Along with conducting, Krista plays violin for the Carlisle String Quartet, the Shippensburg University Orchestra and the Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra. Krista has also played for the Gettysburg Festival Orchestra, the Central Pennsylvania Symphony, Theatre Harrisburg, the Gettysburg College Orchestra, the Hanover String Quartet, the Grosse String Quartet and the Latimore String Quartet.

Krista has three daughters, Ashley, Hannah and Paige, and resides in Gettysburg with her husband, Dan.

 

Michael Gamon

Elementary String Orchestra Conductor

Michael Gamon currently chairs the Department of Fine and Performing Arts at Harrisburg Academy, and serves as the Director for the Center for Creative Arts. He serves as professor of viola at Kutztown University and has a passion for training young musicians. He has served on the artistic staff of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, as the conductor for the Baltimore Symphony Youth String Orchestra. In addition, he has served as the conductor for the Greater Baltimore Youth Orchestra’s Sinfonia, Sinfonietta, and Bridges Orchestras.

Mr. Gamon is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, where he studied viola performance with Victoria Chiang and pedagogy with Rebecca Henry. As an orchestral musician, he has worked with Marin Alsop, David Zinman, Jamie Laredo, George Manahan, and James Conlon among others. He has performed throughout Austria, Italy, and the Czech Republic with notable appearances at the Karlskirche in Salzburg, the Rudolfinum in Prague, and the Sala Dei Priori in Perugia. Performances include the nationally televised 32nd Kennedy Center Honors with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra in honor of Leon Fleischer, U.S. President George W. Bush, Baltimore Mayors Sheila Dixon, and Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. Additionally, Mr. Gamon has appeared in solo and chamber music recital series throughout the Baltimore and Central Pennsylvania regions.

Mr. Gamon is a scholarship recipient of the Aspen Music Festival and School where he has worked with numerous artist-faculty such as Jeffery Irvine, Steve Wyrczinski, Sabina Thatcher, Eric Halen, and David Halen. He has graduated summa cum laude from Lebanon Valley College with a music degree on viola. While at Lebanon Valley College, he won the concerto-aria competition and soloed with the Lebanon Valley College Symphony Orchestra and received the Carmean Orchestra Award. Mr. Gamon worked closely with collaborative pianist Dr. Karen Savage and violinist Dr. Hannes Dietrich.

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