The Richmond Symphony School of Music welcomes two new team members

Left: Dr. Julie Bemis, Vice President of Education and Community Engagement. Right: Davey Van Beveren, Assistant Director of Education and Community Engagement.

The Richmond Symphony School of Music is excited to announce two new additions to the team this season: Dr. Julie Bemis, Vice President of Education and Community Engagement, and Davey Van Beveren, Assistant Director of Education and Community Engagement!

Dr. Julie Bemis is the Vice President of Education and Community Engagement at the Richmond Symphony, where she thrives in collaborating with both staff and musicians. Passionate about connecting the community to music, Julie believes in its transformative power to inspire, unite, and uplift people of all ages and from all backgrounds. She is particularly dedicated to creating opportunities for young people to engage with music. Most recently, Julie worked at the Colorado Symphony as Manager of Orchestra Personnel and at the University of Northern Colorado as Assistant Professor of Percussion.

A Chesapeake, Virginia native, Davey Van Beveren’s musical journey began in elementary school with a plastic recorder. He holds a bachelor’s degree in oboe performance from Oberlin College & Conservatory and a master’s degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. Davey has a deep passion for youth orchestras, and previously worked as the Orchestra Manager at the Greater Boulder Youth Orchestras. Most recently, Davey worked at the Colorado Symphony as their Community Education Manager, where he oversaw the development and implementation of award-winning educational programming that engaged over 30,000 community members each year. Davey also worked as the Orchestra Manager of the Greater Boulder Youth Orchestras.

To learn more about our new staff members, visit the leadership page on our website. Keep an eye out for Julie and Davey at YOP rehearsals and community events later this spring to meet and get to know them.

Posted in

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Share This Post!

STAY POSTED

Get our weekly school updates, upcoming events, new semester classes, and school announcements.
Something went wrong. Please check your entries and try again.

Recent Posts

Slept through October’s Discovery Concerts? Set your alarms now—registration for our spring 2026 Hopkins-Eggleston Discovery Concerts, Carnival of the Animals, is now open! 
 
Our spring 2026 Discovery Concerts will take place in mid-February and are open to public, private, and homeschool groups and target students in grades pre-K through 3. Visit the link in our bio @richmondsymphonysom to learn more and register your students!
 
Spring 2026 Discovery Concert: Carnival of the Animals
Wednesday, February 18 and Thursday, February 19, 2026 at 10:30am
Carpenter Theatre at the Dominion Energy Center
 
🎻: Haydn’s “Surprise” Symphony 
Symphony No. 94 in G major, Hob.I.94, II. Andante
Performed by the Richmond Symphony, Hae Lee, Associate Conductor, and narrator Teddy McPherson

@rvasymphony @hae.conductor @dominionenergycenter #MusicEd #MusicEducation #CarnivalOfTheAnimals #SaintSaens #RVAFamilies #RVA
The first piece on Youth Concert Orchestra’s performance this weekend, Zachary Docter’s rustic Prairie Dance, makes this East Coast-based Youth Orchestra want to move out west! 🏜️🐎🤠 

The talented young musicians in YCO will come together with our other YOP ensembles this Sunday for an unforgettable season opener featuring nearly 200 students across five ensembles. We can’t wait to see you there! 🎻🎺🥁

All YOP Ensembles Showcase
Sunday, November 9, 2025 at 6:30pm 
Carpenter Theatre at the Dominion Energy Center
Featuring String Sinfonietta, Camerata Strings, Youth Concert Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble, and the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra

@rvasymphony #YouthOrchestra #MusicEd #Strings #Woodwinds #Brass #Percussion
Explore how music and physics connect at our first Family Concert of the year: The Science of Sound! ✨🥼🎺 Presented in collaboration with the Science Museum of Virginia, guests will discover how orchestral instruments create sound and learn about the mechanics of sound waves, ranging from outer space to the deep sea. 

While this show is designed primarily for guests ages 7–13, the whole family will enjoy this opportunity to explore connections between STEM and the performing arts. Children 2 and under are free if seated in an adult’s lap. 

For more information and to buy your ticket, visit the link in our bio @richmondsymphonysom! 

The Science of Sound Family Concert
Sunday, November 2, 2025 at 3:00 pm
Perkinson Center for the Arts & Education
11810 Centre Street, Chester, VA 23831

@rvasymphony @sciencemuseumofvirginia #RVAFamilies #RVA #RVAFamily #MusicEducation #FamilyConcert
📣📣 Virginia high school music educators: Do you know a junior or senior who would make an excellent music educator one day? If you teach a student who’s got that spark, now is the time to nominate them for our 6th annual Future Music Educators Symposium (FMES)! 🍎🎶✨
 
Led by Dr. Sandy Goldie, Department Chair and Director of Music Education, VCUarts Music, this 8-week online program is designed to provide a meaningful experience for students who show exceptional promise and passion for a future career in music education. Students are selected through teacher nominations, and accepted students participate in a series of workshops and classes where their own hands-on teaching encounters are supported virtually by invited guest speakers, clinicians, and mentors. This year’s cohort will meet online on Wednesdays from 4:30-6:00pm, January 7 to February 25, 2026. 
 
Each music educator may nominate up to two (2) total students for this course. To be eligible for a nomination, students must currently be a high school junior or senior and must be located in the state of Virginia. The deadline to nominate students is Monday, December 1, 2025. Space is extremely limited, so we encourage you to submit your nominations early. For more information and to nominate a student, visit the link in our bio. 

Photo by James H Loving Photography (@jamesloving).

@rvasymphony @vcuartsmusic @virginiamusiceducators #MusicEducation #VMEA #MusicEd #MusicTeacher #MusicTeachersofInstagram
The Girl from Ipanema: ✨🎺 Brass quintet version 🎺✨

Each season, Richmond Symphony Educational Ensembles visit elementary schools across central Virginia, playing chamber music for thousands of students throughout the course of the season. The Richmond Symphony Brass Quintet, one of our first Educational Ensembles of the year, recently visited Ettrick Elementary School in Chesterfield County, playing an arrangement of The Girl from Ipanema among classical works! 🎺✨

@rvasymphony @oneccps #BrassQuintet #Brass #GirlFromIpanema #FrenchHorn #Trumpet #Trombone #Tuba #Horn
🌀🌀🌀 Ooh… you wanna audition for the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra Program so bad… 🌀🌀🌀

If you’re interested in joining the Youth Orchestra Program, now is your chance—no hypnosis required! We’re accepting mid-season auditions for all instrument families in all five of our ensembles. All auditions are due by the end of the day on Monday, October 20. Visit the link in our bio for more information! 🌀🎶

@rvasymphony @hae.conductor #Audition #YouthOrchestraProgram #ClassicalMusicMemes #RichmondVA #Orchestra #YouthOrchestra #Hypnosis
It’s October 3rd… which means that mid-season YOP auditions are due in just 17 days! 💅🩷🎻🎺🪉🥁 Whether you play strings, woodwinds, brass, or percussion, visit the link in our bio to submit your virtual audition today. 

@rvasymphony #MeanGirls #October3rd #YouthOrchestra #Orchestra #ClassicalMusic #MusicEducation #ClassicalMusicMemes #RVA #RVAFamilies
Mid-season auditions for the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra Program are now open… and if someone DMed you this reel, that means they want YOU to audition! 🎻🎺🥁🌟

Seats are open in all ensembles, with audition submissions due by the end of the day on Monday, October 20. Please note that current YOP students are only eligible to change ensembles during our spring audition cycle. Visit the link in our bio to sign up for your audition today. 

🎶: Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E minor, op. 64: II. Andante cantabile con alcuna licenza, played by the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra and conducted by Associate Conductor Hae Lee @hae.conductor 

@rvasymphony #RichmondSymphony #YouthOrchestraProgram #YOP #YouthOrchestra #MusicEducation #Richmond #RichmondVA #RVA