About

"The moment Dworetz lifted her hands ... I felt the exhilaration of the orchestra ... Reality stilled for just a moment."

— Seattle Times

American conductor Tamara Dworetz is driven by her belief in the power of classical music to inspire, spread joy and enrich the human experience. Dworetz's 2024-25 season includes debuts with the Atlanta Ballet (The Rite of Spring & The Nutcracker), Sarasota Orchestra and Boulder Philharmonic. She is one of three emerging conductors selected to participate in Leonard Slatkin's 80th Birthday Celebration with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. This will be her second season as Artistic Director & Conductor of the Georgia Philharmonic, including a world premiere violin concerto by composer Michael Kurth. Recently, Tamara conducted her first staged opera, Bizet's Carmen.

Tamara is featured in a Netflix documentary called 'Maestra', directed by Maggie Contreras and produced by David Letterman. The film centers around 5 conducting participants in the 2022 La Maestra Conducting Competition and Academy for Women Conductors in Paris, France and has been highlighted by the NY Times, LA Times, CBS National News as well as international film festivals, including Tribeca, where it was premiered. In the 2022 competition, Tamara was the only US-born conductor and earned a spot as one of 6 semi-finalists. 

Dworetz has conducted the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Arkansas Symphony, Amarillo Symphony, Paris Mozart Orchestra, Boston Pops, Dallas Opera Orchestra, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra,  and Mankato Symphony. She has served as an assistant conductor for the Orchestre de Paris (Klaus Mäkelä), Gürzenich Orchestre Cologne (François-Xavier Roth), BBC Concert Orchestra (Bramwell Tovey) and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (Nathalie Stutzmann). She won 2nd prize in the Boston Pops' Leonard Bernstein Conducting Competition and was a recipient of the Bruno Walter Conducting Fellowship at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music selected by Cristian Măcelaru.

A devoted music educator, Tamara’s musical beginnings took place in the Atlanta public school system and she is passionate about fostering enriching musical experiences for K-12 and pre-professional musicians. Last summer she served as Associate Conductor of Carnegie Hall's National Youth Orchestras, NYO-USA & NYO2 and traveled on their South American Tour, assisting Marin Alsop and Jean-Yves Thibaudet.  Tamara is in her 2nd year as Director of Orchestral Studies at Georgia State University and Charles Thomas Wurm Distinguished Professor in Instrumental Music. She has served guest conducting residencies at University of Texas Butler School of Music, Boston University School of Music, SUNY Fredonia School of Music, and the Longy Conservatory Orchestra at Bard College. She has guest conducted All-State Orchestras in Texas, Colorado, Georgia and Washington (All-Northwest) and worked with the Atlanta, Austin, Emory and Boston Youth Orchestras.

Tamara and her husband, Stephen, live in Brookhaven, Georgia with their dog, and when she's not conducting, she enjoys going to the dog park, drinking her favorite craft & Belgian beers, and watching dark comedies.​​

Updated 10.22.24