Nancy Torrente was appointed Conductor and Music Director of the Cape Community Orchestra in December 2021. In addition to conducting rehearsals and performances, her work with the group includes planning concerts, developing relationships with the Cape community, and continuing the goal of providing opportunities for local volunteer musicians to share orchestra music of all types with audiences throughout Cape Cod.

Nancy holds a BA from the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts and an MA from Queens College, both in cello performance, with additional conducting studies with Anthony Maiello. Her experience on the podium includes invitations to conduct festival orchestras in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York, as well as in Boston’s Symphony Hall and the Haydn Concert Hall in Esterhazy Palace, Austria. Nancy’s cello has brought her to many venues, from NY’s Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Plaza Hotel, and Belmont Racetrack to the Philadelphia Academy of Music and the Yawkey Museum in Wisconsin. She has been a member of the Philharmonic of Caracas, Venezuela; Opera Barga, Italy; the Taconic Opera Company; and the Hudson Valley Philharmonic in NY. Internationally, she has played for audiences in Italy, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela and has recorded all types of music, including with saxophonist David Liebman on his albums “A Walk in the Clouds” and “Dedications.”

Closer to home, she is honored to be the cellist and member of the Cape Cod String Quartet, which presents concerts throughout the year on and off Cape Cod.

Nancy balances her conducting and performance career with a passion for teaching. As a string educator, she has taught students of all ages, from adults at Villanova University’s summer institute for strings to young students in NYC’s public schools in East Harlem, where she piloted the first cello classes for the string program made famous by the film “Music of the Heart.” Nancy recently retired from leading the music department of Yorktown Central Schools, NY, where she taught and conducted middle and high school orchestras, which consistently earned top ratings at international and national music festivals.

She and her musician husband, Al Torrente, feel fortunate to live in Dennis, MA, where they spend most of their days making and studying music, gardening, and enjoying the company of their friends and family.