Chris Colaneri, Conductor of the Percussion Ensemble, holds a Master’s in music education from New Jersey City University and a Bachelor’s degree in classical performance from Rowan University. Mr. Colaneri has been teaching in the New York and New Jersey Public schools since 1996. His current position is with the Berkeley Heights Public School System. He recently co-founded and is currently the President of the Percussion Educator’s Association of New Jersey. Mr. Colaneri’s orchestral endeavors have taken him to Spain, France, Israel and Jordan. He performs yearly with Josh Groban as his Radio City Music Hall timpanist and has also shared the stage with Cindi Lauper, Itzhak Perlman, Breland, Warren Haynes, Hanson, Rita Wilson and Il Volo. Locally, he has performed with the Plainfield Symphony, South Orange Symphony, Haddonfield Symphony, and Metropolitan Orchestra of New Jersey. As a vibist, marimba and Latin percussion performer, Mr. Colaneri has led his own jazz quartet CCQ for the past eighteen years. This ensemble has given featured performances at NJPAC, various jazz clubs, private corporate and political functions and jazz festivals throughout NJ. Mr. Colaneri has given lectures at Rowan University, Temple, Mason Gross, the New Jersey Music Educator’s State Convention and All Eastern. As an author for Oxford University Press, his recent method book The Total Percussionists, can be found in classrooms throughout the USA and abroad. In addition to his musical endeavors, Mr. Colaneri can be found on the small screen as a background actor for such shows as The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon Prime), The Time Traveler’s Wife (HBO Max) and Just Like That…(HBO Max). Mr. Colaneri joined the Youth Orchestra of Central Jersey in 2017.