Casey Rinkenberger

Casey Hoffmire believes music is a gift from God, and she is devoted to sharing this gift through various performance mediums, as well as inspiring the next generation of young musicians through her teaching.

A senior violin student of Patricia Shih at Baylor University School of Music, Casey has had many orchestral performance opportunities.  She has enjoyed both playing in and leading the Baylor Symphony Orchestra as concertmaster under the direction of  Stephan Heyde and Miguel Harth-Bedoya.  In her role as concertmaster, Casey has had the opportunity to play many prominent solos, including those in Capriccio Espangole by Rimsky Korsakov and Brahms’ Symphony No. 1.  She has enjoyed leading the BSO in their community concerts including the Baylor Children’s Concerts and A Baylor Christmas.  Casey also enjoys playing in the Waco Symphony Orchestra, where she has accompanied famed musicians such as Gil Shaham and Norm Lewis.  In 2018, she was blessed to be able to play in an orchestra accompanying the Annie Moses Band at Carnegie Hall. 

During her tenure at Baylor, Casey has play and perform with a variety of chamber groups.  She specifically loves playing with the Brazos Trio, performing the hidden gem, Babadjanian’s Piano Trio in f sharp minor.  Casey also is a violin player for both the Waco based Grazioso String Quartet and Illinois based River City String Quartet.  

As a soloist, Casey organized and performed “Summer” from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with a small chamber ensemble consisting of her Baylor string colleagues.  She was also asked to be the main musical performance for the highly attended CareNet Banquet, featuring special guest Dr. Ben Carson.  In 2019, Casey was a guest artist on WTVP Public Television for a TV special documenting Peoria’s talented youth and was also chosen as a soloist with the Central Illinois Youth Symphony.   Passionate about giving voice to lesser known musical treasures, Casey is currently working on a recording project of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Violin Concerto No. 2, “I Profeti.”  She hopes more people will come to know and love this concerto as much as she does. 

Besides performing, Casey is a very enthusiastic and inspiring teacher, having taught private violin lessons for almost 10 years.  She is a member of the Suzuki Association of America and is excited to use her teaching to impact future generations of young musicians in the central Illinois area.  For the past three years, she has enjoyed being both intern and faculty for the Heart of Illinois Summer Music Clinic. 

In addition to being on the Dean’s List during her time at Baylor, Casey has received many academic and music scholarships, including the 2023 Dean’s Outstanding Performance Award.

Passionate about both Jesus and music, Casey has played in her church orchestra and praise band for three years and also started a Bible study for women within the Baylor School of Music.  Casey is originally from the Pumpkin Capital of the World, Morton, Illinois, but very much embraces her new roots in being a self-declared Texan!  This summer, she is looking forward to marrying her high school sweetheart.