Violinist, Dr. Katelyn McClinton has always held an interest in music from a young age. Her parents, both musicians themselves, introduced her to classical music as she grew up. At the age of 9, she began taking violin classes through her school. A year later, she began lessons with Karen Lauffer and studied with her for 4 years.

In her high school years, Dr. McClinton then studied with Dr. Courtney Orlando, who was her primary teacher until high school graduation. Towards the end of her high school career, decided that she would continue her music education through college. In the fall of 2011, Ms. McClinton attended The Sunderman Conservatory at Gettysburg College, studying with Dr. Yeon-Su Kim. Throughout her 4 years at Gettysburg, Katelyn participated and performed in groups like the Gettysburg College Symphony Orchestra, Metta Ensemble, and Sunderman Strings, which included a performance in New York City.

Thanks to the years spent at college, Dr. McClinton has a major interest in chamber music and hopes to continue performing chamber music in her career. She has attended music festivals throughout numerous summers, including the International Music Institute and Festival in Maryland and the InterHarmony Music Festival in Tuscany, Italy. Ms. McClinton has a Bachelor’s in Music Performance from the Sunderman Conservatory at Gettysburg College and a Master’s of Music Performance from Towson University. She has also studied with the late John Eaken, Grammy-nominated violinist and former concertmaster of the York Symphony.

Dr. McClinton is currently a private violin instructor in the Maryland and York, PA area, giving violin lessons to beginning, intermediate and advanced students. She has been teaching for over 6 years and works with each student to find their own unique path in music. Dr. McClinton has also performed with the West Shore Symphony Orchestra in the Central PA area and is currently a member of the Hanover Symphony Orchestra. In 2018, Dr. McClinton joined the Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra. She is the founder of Stravaganza Piano Trio. In 2024, Dr. McClinton received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Shenandoah University and Conservatory. She plans to continue studying and performing works of black composers, as well as learning other methods of teaching and playing contemporary music.

When not performing music, Dr. McClinton enjoys diving into other creative outlets by writing stories as well as doing makeup.