Rebekah Atkinson is an active performer on the Gulf Coast who is passionate about sharing joy and meeting people’s needs through meaningful music that speaks to the heart! Playing church music is one of her favorite means of reaching this goal, as she grew up with parents who were the music director and pianist for various Baptist churches and emphasized the importance of sharing talents with others. Rebekah and her five brothers all began their musical training on the piano at an early age with their mother, although Rebekah later focused most of her formal and college studies on the harp.
Early in her music career, Rebekah worked closely with her brother Matthew (violinist) as the Atkinson Duo, reaching out to the community and ministering through music to retirement homes, care facilities, hospital patients, community centers, churches and anywhere that they could find a need. They also traveled and performed in various concert venues and recorded at the NPR studio in Houston, TX.
Rebekah began playing in professional symphony orchestras within a short time of learning to play the harp and is currently performing with many symphonies across the southeast. Rebekah is principal harpist for Sinfonia Gulf Coast (Destin), the Meridian Symphony and the MS Gulf Coast Symphony (Gulfport) and she also appears frequently with the Pensacola Symphony/Opera, the Tuscaloosa Symphony, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (New Orleans) and most recently, the Alabama Symphony (Birmingham). In the symphony setting, she has performed with many prominent artists such as the Irish Tenors, Denyce Graves, Von Trapp Family Singers, Johnny Mathis, Kristin Chenoweth and Andrea Boccelli.
Additionally, Rebekah has appeared as a soloist with the Magnolia Chamber Orchestra performing Debussy Dances and with the Elsewhen Orchestra in Gabriel Pierne’s Concertstuck. She is very active in helping to organize music events on the Gulf Coast and has been a featured performer on multiple chamber music concert series. In her spare time, Rebekah enjoys being outdoors, spending time with her family, and helping to take care of her grandmothers (who are 88 & 98).
While Rebekah was fortunate to study with many outstanding teachers, the biggest influences on her musical development were harpists Catherine Anderson, Judy Sullivan Hicks and Maria Luisa Rayan and soprano Linda Zoghby. Rebekah considers it a true blessing that God has given her wonderful musical mentors who invested into her life, a valuable gift to pass on and many years of a special ministry to share God’s love and truth with others.
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