Todd Van Beveren
Conductor and Artistic Director. Mr. Todd Van Beveren is the founder of the Northern New Jersey Youth Orchestra. He is the director of strings at Columbia High School in Maplewood NJ as well as being the conductor of the Ridgewood Festival Strings Orchestra. Mr. Van Beveren has served as the performance chair for the NJ All State Orchestra and served as conductor for the NJIO. He was a student of Beverly Somach and Oscar Ravina, and the conducting student of Thomas Carlo Bo. He served for many years as the principal violist in the Montclair Chamber Ensemble and conducted the group in their last two performances. He has served as concertmaster for the Crescent Choral Society where he was the featured soloist for the Faure Requiem.
Terrence Thornhill
Conductor. Mr. Terrence Thornhill is a native of Maplewood NJ, is a Performer’s Certificate graduate student at SUNY Purchase, majoring in Cello Performance. He graduated from the Cali School of Music in 2011 with a degree in Music Education and serves as student representative on the board of trustees and principle cellist of the Montclair State Symphony Orchestra. He studied cello with Nicholas Tzavaras, String Coordinator at the John J. Cali School of Music and Cellist of the Shanghai String Quartet. He has participated in masterclasses with Yo-Yo Ma, Carter Brey principle Cellist of the New York Philharmonic, Peter Wiley cellist of the Beux Arts Trio and Guarneri String Quartet, members of the Shanghai, Emerson, JACK, Borromeo and Daedalus, and Colorado String Quartets.
As an educator, Terrence maintains a diverse private studio in the New York Metro Area, teaching students from k-Adult. In addition, Terrence is on the Faculty of the Montclair State University’s Preparatory Division where he teaches Cello, Music Theory and head of the Chamber Music department. In 2007 Terrence served as president of the Montclair State University Student Chapter of American String Teachers Association, which won best student chapter in the country. On a statewide level, Terrence was chosen to administer sectionals for the New Jersey Region and All-State Cello section in 2008 and 2009. In 2009, Terrence received the Allen Iverson Music Education Award, the highest award given by the John J. Cali School of Music to an undergraduate music education major.
Thomas Vacca
Associate Conductor. We are pleased to welcome Mr. Thomas Vacca as an Associate Conductor for the 2015-2016 Seas0n. Tom Vacca is currently a senior at Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts. As a trumpet player, he has studied with David Kraus an Kenneth DeCarlo. Tom is currently a member of the New York Youth Symphony and he has played at Carnegie Hall under the baton of Joshua Gersen. As a conductor, Tom has taken a semester of individual study with Darryl Bott, Kraig A. Williams and Kynan Johns. After graduation, Tom plans to pursue a graduate degree in orchestral conducting.