Joanna Drimatis PhD

Australian Music for String Orchestra and Ensembles

The Australian Music Centre (AMC) is the national service organisation dedicated to the promotion and support of art music in Australia. At the heart of our mission is a commitment to the representation, advocacy, promotion and support of Australian creators and their music.  Consider the question: how are you embedding Australian culture and, importantly, Australian art music into your ensembles?   My role as Music Education Specialist is to help facilitate this process with a degree of ease, so that educators, performers, conductors, and students can access the music that is right for their purpose. In this workshop, there will be information shared on how to source repertoire for your ensemble as well as the opportunity for delegates to play through orchestral works on offer at the AMC. In addition, strategies will be discussed on how to include more Australian music in our co-curricular ensembles. The purpose of this discussion is for educators to connect and understand the services and resources that are provided at the AMC as well as give a deeper insight into the cultural significance of the Australian Music Centre.

About Dr. Joanna Drimatis

Dr Joanna Drimatis is a highly-respected champion of Australian music, contributing comprehensively through her output as a conductor, performer, music director, researcher and educator. After initial studies in Music Education, Violin Performance and Orchestral Conducting in Australia and the USA, Joanna graduated with a PhD in Musicology University of Adelaide and was awarded the Inaugural Doctoral Research Medal in 2009. Joanna currently the Music Education Specialist for the Australian Music Centre, Music Director/Chief Conductor of the Beecroft Orchestra and Resident Conductor of the NSW Doctors’ Orchestra in Sydney. Joanna has also guest conducted numerous orchestras and festivals throughout Australia and New Zealand which include Australian Doctors’ Orchestra, the Sydney Youth Orchestra, the Mosman Symphony, the Woollahra Philharmonic and the Orange Chamber Music Festival Ensemble. In 2022-24, Joanna has enjoyed conducting productions for young Sydney-based opera companies The CoOperative and Gente Gente productions. As a violinist/violist Joanna has played professionally as an orchestral and chamber musician both in Australia and overseas has been a participant in the conducting programs at Aspen Music Festival (USA) and the American Symphony League’s Donald Thulean Conducting workshop. In 2020 Joanna was awarded an APRA AMCOS Art Music NSW Luminary Award for her advocacy, programming and performance of Australian music.