About
PC: Maria Mosconi from the La Maestra Competition
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Tamara Dworetz is establishing a reputation as a compelling and energetic musical force on the podium. She was recently selected as 1 of 14 candidates from a worldwide pool in the 2022 La Maestra Conducting Competition and Academy for Women Conductors in Paris, France. She was the only US-born conductor selected for the competition, and earned a spot as one of 6 semi-finalists. During COVID (March 2021), Tamara was one of three finalists in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's Assistant Conductor audition; just prior to COVID, 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. Recently, Tamara served as an Assistant Conductor for the Atlanta Opera, and as a Cover Conductor for Bramwell Tovey and the Sarasota Orchestra for a masterworks concert -- the program included Strauss' Till Eulenspiegel and Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe Suite no. 2. This season, Tamara will make her debut with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and guest conduct the Boston University Chamber Orchestra and Mankato Symphony Orchestras.
PROGRAMMING
Tamara's recent and upcoming programming includes works by Reena Esmail, Gabriela Ortiz, Adolphus Hailstork, Ingrid Stolzel, Jessie Montgomery, Missy Mazzoli, Florence Price, Arturo Marquez, Quinn Mason, Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Tuan, Ysaye Barnwell and more. Her recent concert with the Rensselaer Orchestra & Concert Choir included a collaboration with Rudras, RPI's award-winning Indian Classical Dance Team, which performed a story-through-dance to Indian-American composer Reena Esmail's TaReKiTa. 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.
MUSIC EDUCATION
At the Collegiate Orchestra/Conservatory level, Tamara was guest conductor with the Longy Conservatory Orchestra at Bard College in 2019 and she was co-music director for The University of Texas University Orchestra for 2 years. For the 2021-22 year, she serves on the faculty of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York as Music Director of the Rensselaer Orchestra and Concert Choir, performing in the state-of-the-art EMPAC, Experimental Media Performing Arts Center. Tamara has also has led the Indiana University Brass Choir, University of Texas Symphony Orchestra, Boston University Symphony Orchestra and Boston University All-Campus Orchestra in concerts. At the All-State/Youth Orchestra/High-School level, Tamara will guest conduct the TMEA (Texas) All-State Philharmonic Orchestra in February 2023. She 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.
Tamara's 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. She was first inspired to be a conductor while a trumpet player in the Atlanta Youth Wind Symphony (AYWS) and GMEA (Georgia) All-State Orchestra.
LEADERSHIP & MORE
As a part of her DMA, Tamara 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. She enjoys serving as the Conducting Mentor for six Conducting Fellows in the 20/21 Girls Who Conduct/Georgia Symphony Orchestra Fellowship Program. During the pandemic, Tamara served as a a guest panelist at Davidson College in their Seminar Series - Diversity, Representation, Democratization in Classical Music and she also hosted the series: Martinis with Maestros, in which she interviewed multi-faceted artists: musicians, conductors, music educators, arts administrators, entrepreneurs, authors and more.