Music

List of 4 members.

• 

  Ms. Edel M Thomas 

  Performing Arts Chair / MS/US Music

  Bio

  Edel Thomas has been on the faculty at Kent Place since 1992 and is now the Chair of Performing Arts. A native of Ireland, she graduated from both University College (Dublin) with a B. Mus and Trinity College (Dublin) with an M. Ed. She also holds a fellowship from London’s Trinity College and an advanced diploma in music pedagogy and choral direction from the Kodály Institute in Hungary. As a member of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), Edel has managed honor choirs and prepared Primary, Middle, and Upper School students for auditions at the state, division, and national levels. She has led the Chamber Singers on choral trips throughout Europe since 2012. As a lifelong advocate for education in and through the Arts, Edel's work now centers around creating equitable pathways for Kent Place students to have meaningful experiences in all of the performing arts - Music, Theater, and Dance. As a teacher and artistic collaborator, she enjoys nurturing the artistic spirit in all her students.
• 

  Ms. Ruthanna Graves McQueen 

  PS Music

  Bio

  Ruthanna Graves-McQueen came to Kent Place School in 2018 to teach music in the Pre-Kindergarten programs and with the students in Kindergarten and First grade. She has a rich and diverse background in musical performance and education, including performing professionally on Broadway and London’s West End. As a resident of South Orange, she served on the Cultural Arts Committee,  finding musical programs to support elementary school children. In addition, she produced and directed performances with Opera Soup Productions (founded by KPS’s Dr. Mirabal), introducing young audiences to opera. She previously worked with the elementary school students in the after-school arts enrichment programs at Primary Prep in Jersey City and Philip's Academy Charter School in Newark. Ruthanna earned an undergraduate degree from the College of Performing Arts at The New School in New York City. She also completed a Creative Arts Therapy program and worked with John Montanaro at Mount Sinai’s Louis Armstrong Center for Music & Medicine. Ruthanna is Orff trained and is continuing her studies in music education in Columbia University’s Master of Arts and Music program. She is a composer and arranger and wrote the music and lyrics to Kent Place Ethics Institute's “Beatrice Bee the Ethical Bee.”
  “Mrs. McQueen,” as children call her, loves sharing the wonders of all music, giving children an understanding and wonderment to encourage a lifetime of joy and love of music.
• 

  Dr. Lori B Mirabal 

  PS Music

  Bio

  Dr. Mirabal has been a primary school music teacher and choral director for the Hummingbirds chorus at Kent Place for ten years.  As a member of the American Choral Directors’ Association, she has prepared over 30 young singers for successful auditions for selection into state, regional and national ACDA Honor Choir Festivals. Among her other initiatives in primary music education was the introduction of the “Cozy Cub Concerts” that introduce Junior Pre-K to orchestral instruments. In middle school, Mirabal has been the choral director for Bel Canto, has taught music appreciation, and has accompanied Edel Thomas on Global Choral trips to Italy and Ireland with the upper school Chamber Singers. 
   
  As an international opera singer, Dr. Mirabal has worked with legendary opera and music theatre luminaries in opera houses and on Broadway.  Along with performing, Mirabal has created an opera production company, Opera Soup Productions, LLC that introduces young audiences to opera in engaging and meaningful ways.  Her first children’s book, From Soul Singing to Opera Soup, launched her career as a published author (2017). Dr. Mirabal’s debut children’s recording, Musetta’s Musical Story Time, Original Stories with Melodies from Around the World became available for international distribution.
• 

  Mr. Terrence Thornhill 

  MS/US Music & PS Ensemble

  Bio

  Terrence Thornhill is the Instrumental Music teacher for all three divisions at KPS. Mr. Thornhill earned his bachelor’s degree in Music Education studying Cello with Nicholas Tzavaras, Cellist of the Shanghai Quartet, and received his master’s degree from SUNY Purchase Conservatory, studying Cello Performance with Julia Lichten, cellist of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. He studied conducting with Ken Lam, the Conductor of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra. As an educator, Mr. Thornhill maintains a diverse private studio in the New York Metro Area, teaching students from young children to adults. In addition to his private studio, Terrence is the Assistant Conductor and Curriculum Director for New Jersey Symphony Youth Orchestras. He is also the conductor of the Harambee Chamber Orchestra, which is dedicated to performing work from composers of color and women. Mr. Thornhill is an original teaching artist for the Paterson Music Project, an El Sistema program serving over 250 students in Paterson, and the Opportunity Music Project in Manhattan. Moreover, his credits include playing on Saturday Night Live and The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon and recently on the soundtrack for the movie Judas and the Black Messiah. Terrence became the inaugural award recipient of the John J. Cali School of Music Alumni Achievement Award in 2018. That same year, Mr. Thornhill was selected to be on faculty at the Youth Orchestras of Los Angeles El Sistema festival, sponsored by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and has been on faculty ever since.