Georgia Markakis Mills is an American conductor recognized for her energized programming, informed interpretations, and commanding technique to lead celebrated repertoire of the past in tandem with exhilarating new music.
In the 2023-24 season, Georgia will conduct the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra in a program of dynamic works by Stravinsky, Bernstein, Copland, and Mozart; she will lead the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra in a concert featuring Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony; and she will conduct a program of cutting-edge world premieres with Augusta Read Thomas’ Grossman Ensemble.
Georgia has appeared as a guest conductor with world-class contemporary groups including Contemporaneous and Ensemble Signal, where she premiered Nico Muhly’s ballet Third Bird with the Guggenheim Museum’s “Works and Process” performing arts series, directed by Isaac Mizrahi and John Heginbotham. Previously, Georgia conducted the premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winner Julia Wolfe’s Oxygen presented by Carnegie Hall.
In 2023, Georgia also served as cover conductor with top orchestras and presenters including the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. In recent years she has collaborated and performed with artists such as Chris Thile, Augusta Read Thomas, Louis Andriessen, George Lewis, and Kate Soper. Georgia additionally served as Associate Music Director for Judd Greenstein’s world premiere opera A Marvelous Order performed by NOW Ensemble, and was a cover conductor for Dylan Mattingly’s world premiere opera Stranger Love performed by Contemporaneous at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Georgia is a doctoral candidate in Conducting at the Eastman School of Music, where she has served as Assistant Conductor of the Musica Nova Ensemble under the direction of conductor Brad Lubman since 2019. In April 2023, she performed and delivered a lecture on György Ligeti’s Chamber Concerto. Since August 2021, she has been an Assistant Conductor of the Eastman Opera Theatre under direction of Timothy Long in staged productions of Kate Soper’s opera suite Here be Sirens and Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods. In August 2021, Georgia served as Music Director and conducted the Rochester Summer Opera’s staged production of Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, NY.
Georgia has held numerous artistic direction and arts administration positions including Vice President of OSSIA New Music, Co-Artistic Director of Pulsing & Shaking Festival, Administrative Associate with The Knights orchestra in Brooklyn, Publicity Assistant for Dotdotdot Music, and Production Assistant with Metropolis Ensemble.
Georgia is a native of Bethesda, MD where she grew up studying piano, cello, voice, and ballet in the Washington, DC area. Before pursuing her doctorate, Georgia received a Master of Music degree in Conducting and a Master of Arts degree in Music Leadership at Eastman, where she studied with Brad Lubman, Neil Varon, Mark Scatterday, and William Weinert. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance where she studied with Eduardus Halim and Marilyn Nonken at New York University.
Georgia is Adjunct Professor of Orchestration at Roberts Wesleyan University and holds graduate teaching awards in conducting and music theory at the Eastman School of Music.
www.georgia-mills.com
Jonathan Mamora
Pianist and educator Jonathan Mamora strives to uplift and positively influence others using music as a means for service. An Indonesian-American and a native of Southern California, Jonathan has served as a church pianist and organist—the result of having been enrolled in piano lessons by his parents for the purpose of becoming a church musician. Jonathan aims to use music as service not only in the church, but also in the community through homes, schools, community centers, and the concert hall.
Acclaimed for his “most assured pianism,” “natural, songful lyricism,” and “rippl[ing] through virtuosic passagework” (The Dallas Morning News), Jonathan has performed throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, and he is a prize-winner of numerous piano competitions, most recently winning first prize in the Scottish International Piano Competition, Concurs Internacional de Música Maria Canals Barcelona, Olga Kern International Piano Competition, AntwerPiano International Competition, Dallas International Piano Competition, Virginia Waring International Piano Competition, American Virtuoso International Music Competition, “Sviatoslav Richter” International Piano Competition, Chautauqua Piano Competition, and Eastman Piano Concerto Competition. He made his concerto debut at the age of 13 with the La Sierra University Orchestra performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3, and he has since performed with such orchestras as the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, New Mexico Philharmonic, Dallas Chamber Symphony, Jove Orquestra Nacional de Catalunya, Eastman Philharmonia and Wind Ensemble, Waring Festival Orchestra, and Coachella Valley Symphony, among others. Jonathan has a number of upcoming solo and concerto engagements in the United States, Europe, and Africa, as well as upcoming recording projects. As described in a review of his 2023 debut at Carnegie Hall, “Jonathan Mamora is what one might call a “big” pianist, in the best sense of the term… [his] playing itself is larger than life. Perhaps it is unsurprising for a winner of several big competitions, but he possesses a technique so solid that it seemed at times that he couldn’t play a wrong note if he tried. On top of that solidity, he dazzles, with lightning-fast fingers and an encyclopedic array of dynamics and articulations” (New York Concert Review).
Jonathan currently serves as the Music Director and Organist of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Clifton Springs, NY. He often performs as a collaborative pianist for vocalists, instrumentalists, ensembles, and choirs. As a collaborator, Jonathan holds a graduate assistantship in accompanying at the Eastman School of Music and has received the Eastman Excellence in Accompanying Award. In addition to the piano and organ, he has also performed as a percussionist, vocalist, historical keyboardist (harpsichord, fortepiano), and conductor. Jonathan also values education as an important tool in music making. He has previously taught piano and music theory/ear training for various institutions and has conducted a series of master classes and concerts at the University of the Southern Caribbean in Trinidad and Tobago. He has served as Instructor for Music Theory and Aural Musicianship at the Eastman School of Music and has taught piano for the Eastman Community Music School.
Jonathan is a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Literature at the East man School of Music, studying with Douglas Humpherys, whom he served as studio assistant. He re- ceived his Bachelor of Music from La Sierra University and his Master of Music from The Juilliard School. Previous teachers include Elvin Rodríguez and Hung-Kuan Chen.
