Dr. Joanna Medawar Nachef

Dr. Joanna Medawar Nachef, is recognized as the first woman conductor from the Middle East. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Dr. Nachef moved to Los Angeles in 1977. She is the Director of Choral Activities at El Camino College. She earned her B.M. in piano performance from California State University, Dominguez Hills, received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree and Master of Music degree in Choral Music from the University of Southern California. Nachef is on the faculty of California State University Dominguez Hills, the California Academy of Mathematics and Science, and the Artistic Director for Los Cancioñeros Master Chorale. As a church musician, she served as Minister of Music at Peninsula Community Church from 1980 - 1997, and is their choir director at the present time. Dr. Nachef was selected as one of the Outstanding Young Women of America in 1986 and one of 1996's Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.

On the national scene she has directed both locally and in guest appearances in motion pictures and with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra of Orange County and the Carson-Dominguez Hills Orchestra. Internationally, she has conducted her community chorus in Eastern Europe, and Canada. She also has been touring with the El Camino College Chorale since 1997 with performances in San Francisco; San José; Carnegie Hall, New York; San Diego and a Hawai’i concert series on the island of O’ahu. She is a member of the Advisory Board for the Torrance Performing Arts Consortium, a board member of the Lebanese Ladies Cultural Society, and the African Diaspora of Sacred Music.

In the summer of 2004, Dr. Nachef was selected to participate in a new program initiated by the United States Department of State entitled Global Education Through Technology. As speaker and “Citizen Diplomat”, she traveled to Italy and Lebanon to implement this “virtual-classroom” about world cultures, led master classes in choral music and planned future collaborations of cultural exchanges.

The City of Torrance Cultural Arts Commission honored Dr. Nachef by selecting her as the recipient of the “2005 Excellence in Arts Award” in Music.

On May 29th, 2005, Dr. Nachef gave her conducting debut at Carnegie Hall, New York. She led the New England Symphonic Ensemble and a 240 voice choir in Schubert’s Mass in G. Mid America Productions has once again invited Dr. Nachef to appear at Carnegie Hall on March 25, 2007, to conduct Mozart’s “Coronation Mass”.