Bernard Tamosaitis was born in Brooklyn, New York and studied at the Juilliard School with Channing Robbins, where he graduated with a B.A. in violoncello in 1979. Mr. Tamosaitis was co-principal of the Bellas Artes Orchestra of Mexico City and a section member of La Filamonica de las Americas which toured Central and South America. Mr. Tamosaitis subsequently became a member of the Quinteto de Xalapa, a resident chamber ensemble at the University of Veracruz, which performed extensively throughout Mexico and Latin America. As cello soloist, he has performed on tour with the New York Symphonic Ensemble, and with the Sinfonica de El Salvador, the Sound Shore and St. Thomas Orchestras. Mr. Tamosaitis is a member of the Ridgefield (CT) Symphony and Canta Libre, a chamber ensemble which frequently performs throughout the region. Canta Libre’s recent CD of French chamber music for harp, flute and strings, which was produced and recorded by STO friend and violinist soloist Ray Iwazumi was hailed by BBC Music Magazine.

Mr. Tamosaitis founded the St. Thomas Orchestra in 2002. Since then he has experienced the pleasure and pride of overseeing the considerable growth and musical development of the orchestra, which today can be counted as one of the most accomplished and inclusive in Westchester County.

Mr. Tamosaitis is married to the lovely and talented Sayuri Iida, a frequent piano soloist with St. Thomas Orchestra. They have two children, Alexis and Lori and reside in Rye Neck.

William Eckfeld served as orchestra director at White Plains High School from 1987 until his retirement in 2013. He is a prolific composer whose works have been performed by STO and his own chamber group, Trio D'Été. Skilled at piano and organ, he serves as organist at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New Rochelle, N.Y. He studied composition with Samuel Adler at the Eastman School of Music, with Karl Haidmeier in Austria, and John Corigliano, Jr, in New York. He has served as president of the Greater Westchester Youth Orchestras Association and the Westchester County School Music Association. In the 1970s, Eckfeld played double bass in the Rochester Philharmonic and the Dallas Symphony.