About
A compelling musical force on the podium, Tamara was chosen from an international pool as one of the 14 candidates in the 2022 La Maestra Conducting Competition and Academy for Women Conductors. She was also recently selected as one of three finalists in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's Assistant Conductor audition. In 2019, Tamara served as assistant conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra at the London Proms and participated in a 2-week residency as a conducting fellow at the 2019 Dallas Opera's Hart Institute for Women Conductors, which culminated in a final concert of overtures, recitatives and arias featuring world class singers. In 2018, Tamara won 2nd prize in the Boston Pops' Leonard Bernstein Conducting Competition (Press Release). From 2016-18, Tamara served as Assistant Conductor for the Austin Symphony Orchestra and Butler Opera Center.
A passionate advocate for representation and heterogeneity in the arts, Tamara's recent and upcoming programming includes works by Adolphus Hailstork, Ingrid Stolzel, Jessie Montgomery, Missy Mazzoli, Charles Ives, Reena Esmail, Florence Price, Arturo Marquez, Quinn Mason, Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Tuan, Ysaye Barnwell and more. Tamara enjoys serving as the Conducting Mentor for six Conducting Fellows in the 20/21 Girls Who Conduct/Georgia Symphony Orchestra Fellowship Program. Tamara has been a recipient of the Bruno Walter Conducting Fellowship at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, which she twice attended, in both in 2019 and 2021, working and learning from an array of composers and musicians. During the pandemic, Tamara served as a a guest panelist at Davidson College in their Seminar Series - Diversity, Representation, Democratization in Classical Music. As a part of her DMA, she wrote a paper entitled 21st Century Leadership in the Conductor-Musician Relationship, which includes interviews with musicians and conductors throughout the country, including Marin Alsop, Bramwell Tovey, Lucia Lin, Paul Popiel and Bharat Chandra. Tamara also hosts the series: Martinis with Maestros, in which she interviews multi-faceted artists: musicians, conductors, arts administrators, entrepreneurs, authors and more.
An enthusiastic educator, Tamara was recently appointed to the faculty of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, where she conducts the Rensselaer Orchestra and Concert Choir which perform in the state-of-the-art EMPAC, the Experimental Media Performing Arts Center. Tamara served as a guest conductor with the Longy Conservatory Orchestra at Bard College, and co-music director for The University of Texas University Orchestra. She has led the Indiana University Brass Choir, University of Texas Symphony Orchestra, Boston University Symphony Orchestra and Boston University All-Campus Orchestra in concerts. Tamara also served as the Interim Conductor of the Austin Youth Orchestra's most advanced orchestra, and has worked extensively with the Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra and Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras. Additionally, Tamara was Director of Orchestras at Lakeside High School in Atlanta and conductor of the University of Texas String Project Chamber Orchestra. Her public school teaching experience and music-for-all philosophy remain guiding forces in her professional endeavors, including how to better engage audiences of different ages and cultural/ethnic backgrounds.
Tamara received a Bachelor of Music Education at Indiana University, a Masters of Music Education at the University of Georgia, and a Masters in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Texas, Austin. She has completed coursework for her Doctorate in Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting at Boston University and is expected to graduate in January 2022. Her mentors and influential teachers include: Bramwell Tovey, Cristian Măcelaru, Carlo Montanaro, Larry Rachleff, Kelly Kuo & Paul Popiel.
A passionate advocate for representation and heterogeneity in the arts, Tamara's recent and upcoming programming includes works by Adolphus Hailstork, Ingrid Stolzel, Jessie Montgomery, Missy Mazzoli, Charles Ives, Reena Esmail, Florence Price, Arturo Marquez, Quinn Mason, Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Tuan, Ysaye Barnwell and more. Tamara enjoys serving as the Conducting Mentor for six Conducting Fellows in the 20/21 Girls Who Conduct/Georgia Symphony Orchestra Fellowship Program. Tamara has been a recipient of the Bruno Walter Conducting Fellowship at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, which she twice attended, in both in 2019 and 2021, working and learning from an array of composers and musicians. During the pandemic, Tamara served as a a guest panelist at Davidson College in their Seminar Series - Diversity, Representation, Democratization in Classical Music. As a part of her DMA, she wrote a paper entitled 21st Century Leadership in the Conductor-Musician Relationship, which includes interviews with musicians and conductors throughout the country, including Marin Alsop, Bramwell Tovey, Lucia Lin, Paul Popiel and Bharat Chandra. Tamara also hosts the series: Martinis with Maestros, in which she interviews multi-faceted artists: musicians, conductors, arts administrators, entrepreneurs, authors and more.
An enthusiastic educator, Tamara was recently appointed to the faculty of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, where she conducts the Rensselaer Orchestra and Concert Choir which perform in the state-of-the-art EMPAC, the Experimental Media Performing Arts Center. Tamara served as a guest conductor with the Longy Conservatory Orchestra at Bard College, and co-music director for The University of Texas University Orchestra. She has led the Indiana University Brass Choir, University of Texas Symphony Orchestra, Boston University Symphony Orchestra and Boston University All-Campus Orchestra in concerts. Tamara also served as the Interim Conductor of the Austin Youth Orchestra's most advanced orchestra, and has worked extensively with the Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra and Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras. Additionally, Tamara was Director of Orchestras at Lakeside High School in Atlanta and conductor of the University of Texas String Project Chamber Orchestra. Her public school teaching experience and music-for-all philosophy remain guiding forces in her professional endeavors, including how to better engage audiences of different ages and cultural/ethnic backgrounds.
Tamara received a Bachelor of Music Education at Indiana University, a Masters of Music Education at the University of Georgia, and a Masters in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Texas, Austin. She has completed coursework for her Doctorate in Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting at Boston University and is expected to graduate in January 2022. Her mentors and influential teachers include: Bramwell Tovey, Cristian Măcelaru, Carlo Montanaro, Larry Rachleff, Kelly Kuo & Paul Popiel.