Kate Tamarkin   Profile

    Kate Tamarkin was recently appointed Music Director of the Charlottesville and University Symphony in Charlottesville, VA. She is delighted to be joining the faculty of the University of Virginia, where she is a professor in the McIntire Department of Music.

    From 1999-2004, Ms. Tamarkin served as the Music Director of the Monterey Symphony (California). During that time the orchestra gained artistic excellence and visability. The 2001-2002 season was the culmination of ten years as Music Director of the East Texas Symphony Orchestra. Previous academic appointments include the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

    Recent engagements include the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (China), and her third production with the Summer Opera Theatre Company in Washington, DC. Highlights of recent seasons included performances with the Edmonton Symphony (Edmonton, Canada), the Vermont Symphony, the Carolina Chamber Symphony, and the National Philharmonic of Moldova.

     Ms. Tamarkin was Music Director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra from 1991 to 1999 and Associate Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra from 1989 to 1994. Her guest conducting credits include a command performance for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; engagements with the symphonies of Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, San Diego, St. Louis, Pacific, Nashville, New Mexico, Quad Cities, Tucson, Dallas, Oklahoma City, El Paso, Monterey, Billings and Fresno; and Chicago's Grant Park Festival and the Eastern Musical Festival in North Carolina.

    Ms. Tamarkin has been profiled on Oxygen, and in publications including Symphony Magazine, Dallas Woman, and Vermont Life.

     As part of the American Conductor Program with Leonard Bernstein, Kate Tamarkin was chosen to conduct the Chicago Symphony in 1988.  As a conducting fellow at Tanglewood that same year, she studied with Seiji Ozawa, Mr. Bernstein and Gustav Meier.  She is also a 1987 winner of the Association of Professional Vocal Ensembles National Conducting Competition.  Ms. Tamarkin was a conducting fellow at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where she conducted at the Hollywood Bowl, and at the Aspen Music Festival.

     Kate Tamarkin holds a Bachelor of Music Education Degree, Magna Cum Laude, from Chapman University; a Master's Degree in Music from Northwestern University; and a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the Peabody Conservatory of Music.  A native of Laguna Beach, Ms. Tamarkin is married to Clifford Arnold, a physicist who does industrial consulting. They reside in Earlysville, VA.