Our Conductor

Robert Helmacy assumed the leadership of the South Orange Symphony Orchestra in the fall of 1972, and became the Music Director in 1978. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Baldwin-Wallace College, a Diploma in Trumpet from the Juilliard School of Music, and a Master's Degree from Boston University. He studied trumpet with William Vacchiano, Mel Broiles and Bernard Adelstein; conducting with Jorge Mester and Walter Susskind; orchestral performance practice with James Chambers and Arthur Weisberg; and music literature with Arnold Fish and Joel Sheveloff. He studied violin with George Painar, Elizabeth Kleinman, and Norma Auth.

Bob has performed with the Aspen Festival Orchestra, the Juilliard Theatre Orchestra, the Hammerskold Players, and recorded with the North Jersey Wind Symphony. Furthermore, he was a principal trumpet with the South Orange Symphony Orchestra. He has been the recipient of the Fellowship of Music Literature awarded from the Juilliard School, a conducting scholarship from the Aspen Music Festival, the Outstanding Performance Award from Boston University, and the Distinguished Alumni Award from Baldwin-Wallace College. Bob's conducting credits include the Susquehanna Valley Symphony Orchestra (1969-70). From 1970 to 1994 he was an orchestral conductor and director of brass ensembles at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina. He has been a faculty member at Susquehanna University, County College of Morris, Caldwell College, and Wilkes University. During his tenure with the South Orange Symphony Orchestra, Bob has introduced innovative family concerts, instituted the Artist Competition for New Jersey residents and created a scholarship program for young string performers. Aside from conducting the orchestra since 1972, he currently teaches and lives in the Scranton Pennsylvania area.