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.

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