MEET THE ARTISTS

Deanna Tham

Powerfully compelling, Deanna Tham is known for her captivating and tenacious spirit on and off the podium. She is currently the Associate Conductor of the Oregon Symphony and Music Director of the Union Symphony Orchestra.

Previously, Tham was the Assistant Conductor of the Omaha Symphony, following her tenure as Assistant Conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony and Principal Conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestras. In 2024 she appeared in the prestigious La Maestra Conducting Competition in Paris, France where she was a semi-finalist. She has performed at the Proms in Royal Albert Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and Seiji Ozawa Hall at the Tanglewood Music Center working with Maestros James Ross, Joseph Young, and Sir Antonio Pappano, as well as renowned artists Isobel Leonard and Joyce DiDonato. Tham has additionally appeared with the Oregon Symphony, Victoria Symphony, Spokane Symphony, Ballet Idaho, Opera Idaho, Orpheus PDX, 45th Parallel, and Present Music Milwaukee. Recent highlights of the include leading the all-women Broadway Sinfonietta in the world-premiere of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse live with symphonic score, Jacksonville Symphony’s first educational Martin Luther King Jr. tribute concert and the Union Symphony’s first city-community Pops on the Plaza collaboration of Latin American pop and classical music. Additional recent engagements include Assistant Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra (NYO-USA and NYO2) and Assistant Conductor of the Chicago Sinfonietta with Maestro Mei-Ann Chen. Tham is additionally a cover conductor for the San Francisco Symphony. Her past positions include those with the Boise Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Louisville Youth Orchestras, and American Chamber Opera. In 2013, Tham’s work with the National Music Festival was featured on National Public Radio as well as American Public Media.

Tham holds a Professional Studies Certificate from the Cleveland Institute of Music in Orchestral Conducting studying with Maestro Carl Topilow. She received her Master of Music in conducting from Northwestern University studying with Dr. Mallory Thompson. There, she additionally worked with Dr. Robert Harris, Victor Yampolsky, and Dr. Robert Hasty. Tham received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in horn performance studying with Dennis Abelson, Zachary Smith, Bob Lauver, and Steven Kostyniak at Carnegie Mellon University.