Tamara Gonzalez
Tamara Gonzalez
Concertino East Conductor
Tamara Gonzalez fell in love with orchestral music as a first grader in the D.C. Youth Orchestra Program. Continually seeking out orchestral experiences, she began score study and conducting lessons at age 14. Tamara made her conducting debut at age 16 directing her colleagues in the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Die Meistersinger in Sala Sanromá, in San Juan. She holds a B.M. with honors and M.M. with high honors in violin performance from DePaul University, and is a fully trained Suzuki violin and viola instructor. Tamara has played as a member of the Chicago Sinfonietta, Sphinx Festival Orchestra, Chicago Classical Symphony, Rockford Symphony, Illinois Symphony and Southwest Michigan Symphony amongst others. She is an avid chamber musician, performer, and has maintained a large Suzuki violin and viola studio at MacPhail Center for Music since moving to Minneapolis in 2014. She currently conducts the MacPhail Suzuki DaCapo and Suzuki Sinfonia orchestras and conducted the MacPhail Northside Youth Orchestra from 2017–2020. Tamara served as an MPR Class Notes Conductor Clinician from 2017–2019 teaching elementary, junior high and high school students around the state. She is a sought out Suzuki and orchestra clinician, and has been invited to teach and conduct throughout Minnesota and in Colorado, South Dakota, Madison, Memphis, Kansas City, and Puerto Rico. She is thrilled to be the inaugural conductor of the GTCYS Concertino East orchestra. Tamara lives in North Minneapolis and is a Suzuki mom to her two sons.