Performer Details
Performer Bio Synopsis
The “Livable Forest” of Kingwood, Texas, is located in the northeast corner of Harris County and is a suburb of Houston, Texas. Established as a master-planned community in the mid-1970’s, Kingwood has grown into a residential community of over 80,000. This past year, Kingwood High School was ranked as the 16th best high school in the greater Houston area and within the top five for comprehensive high schools.
Humble Independent School District is comprised of nearly 40,000 students, and is currently one of the fastest growing school districts in the state of Texas. Humble ISD began offering string instruction as an elective choice in 1991 and the first orchestra class at Kingwood High School met in the Fall of 1995. Since then, the KHS Orchestra program has seen dramatic growth. Currently, 275 students are enrolled in orchestra for the 2014/2015 school year. With a total school population of approximately 2600 students, this means that well over ten percent of Kingwood High School students walk into the KHS Orchestra room each day for class.
Students in the KHS Orchestra program began string instruction as sixth-graders at either Creekwood Middle School or Riverwood Middle School. It is a testimony to the quality of the middle school instruction that the Kingwood High School Orchestra program has been selected to perform for the 68th Annual Midwest Clinic and Convention with students who all began their string careers as Middle School beginners in their public school orchestra program. Our KHS Orchestra students are involved in a wide range of activities from AP and Honors Academic programs to every possible athletic program offered at Kingwood High School. Ninety-seven percent of the KHS Chamber Orchestra students are taking honors classes and eighty-five percent of the orchestra students are involved in an athletic team at Kingwood High School. The KHS Orchestra is proudly supported by the Kingwood Orchestra Booster Club, the faculty and staff of Kingwood High School, Humble ISD Administration, and an incredible group of loving, encouraging, and proud parents.
KINGWOOD HIGH SCHOOL CHAMBER STRINGS
Conductor's Bio
Chris Reidlinger is beginning his 23rd year working for the Humble I.S.D. School District. The first 13 years in Humble were spent at Riverwood M.S., where under Dr. Reidlinger’s direction, the Orchestra program grew from 17 to students in 1992 to close to 300 students by Fall 2004. Currently Dr. Reidlinger is Head Orchestra Director at Kingwood High School which has an Orchestra enrollment for the 2014/2015 school year of 275 students.
Dr. Reidlinger’s Orchestras have been consistent sweepstakes recipients at the U.I.L. Concert & Sightreading Contest and Music Festivals across the State. Previous to his work for Humble schools, Dr. Reidlinger taught three years at San Jacinto Int. in Pasadena, TX and prior to that was a member of the Mississippi State Symphony Orchestra and the Violin/Viola instructor at Jackson State University in Jackson, MS.
Dr. Reidlinger received his Bachelor in Music from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, TX; a Masters in Music degree from The Manhattan School of Music in New York City; and a Doctorate of Musical Arts diploma from the University of Houston. In addition to directing the Orchestra Program at Kingwood High School, Dr. Reidlinger is the director of the Houston First Baptist Church Orchestra. Dr. Reidlinger is also busy as a free-lance musician in the greater Houston area and active as a judge and clinician around Texas.
Elisabeth Hale, violinist, received her Bachelor Degree in violin performance and from Lee University in 2011 and her Masters Degree in violin performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Music Education in 2012. Teachers included violin studies with Xiaoqing Yu, Piotr Milewski, Penney Adair. Chamber music with Yehuda Hanani, Lee Fiser, and Sin-Hsing Tsai, and orchestral excerpts with Gabe Pegis and Timothy Lees In addition, Mrs. Hale participated in master classes with Ani Kavafian, Ida Kavafian, and Peter Serkin. Hale has been teaching privately since she was 16 and holds Suzuki certification from the Suzuki Association of the Americas. Hale has been on the faculty of the College-Conservatory of Music's Preparatory Department, the University of Northern Kentucky's School of Music Preparatory Department, and the Music Academy in Rockford, Illinois.
Mrs. Hale has been teaching at Kingwood High School since 2013. In addition to her teaching assignment at Kingwood H.S., Mrs. Hale teaches privately and is active as a free-lance musician in the greater Houston area. She is a member of the Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities Society, Pi Kappa Lambda, Alpha Chi, and Kappa Delta Pi honor societies.
Hale resides in the greater Houston area with her husband, Alan, also an orchestra director, and enjoys playing Scrabble, knitting, and Downton Abbey.
Back