Mr. Christopher Beckett is a graduate of the Mason Gross School of Arts at Rutgers University, with a B.M. in Music Education and a concentration in violin and viola. He is currently a candidate for an M.M. in Conducting at Mason Gross under the guidance of Maestro Kynan Johns. Mr. Beckett served as the Preparatory Strings and Concert Orchestra director for the Greater Princeton Youth Orchestra from 2016 to 2021. He has conducted numerous other ensembles including the Harlem Quartet Workshop Orchestra, NJ Arco Youth Orchestra, and as a guest conductor for the NJ High School Region II Orchestra. Mr. Beckett has performed and conducted at various venues including the Kimmel Center, Carnegie Hall, and Gordon Hall. In 2019, Mr. Beckett was invited to lead an international viola masterclass at Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá, Colombia. He recently participated as a violist in the 2023 Monteux School & Music Festival led by conducting students and guest conductors such as Tiffany Lu, Arthur Fagen, Julius Williams, Hugh Wolff, Kenneth Kiesler, and Markand Thakar. Mr. Beckett is in his eleventh year of teaching strings in the East Brunswick school district.