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.
Violinist Raina Arnett is a recent MM graduate of the Juilliard School where she studied under Lewis Kaplan as his teaching assistant. She also holds BM degrees in Violin Performance and Music Theory with high distinction from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied under Renee Jolles. Other important mentors include Leila Josefowicz, Muneko Otani, Laura Bossert, and Charles Castleman. As an orchestral musician, Raina has performed under the baton of many esteemed conductors including Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Brad Lubman, Gabor Takacs-Nagy, Alondra de la Parra, David Zinman, and David Robertson. She has appeared as principal and concertmaster of the Southbank Sinfonia (London), Juilliard Orchestra, New Juilliard Ensemble, and in a side-by-side performance with the Royal Opera House (London); and as a member of Ensemble Signal, La Orquesta Imposible (Mexico), and the Grafenegg Orchestra (Austria).
Passionate about contemporary music, Raina has collaborated with composers such as Kaija Saariaho, Charles Wuorinen, Julia Wolfe, and George Lewis, and has performed chamber music with members of the JACK Quartet, Ensemble Modern, Alarm Will Sound, Bang on a Can All-Stars, and Eighth Blackbird. As an academic, Raina has researched contemporary music at the IRCAM Centre in Paris and was invited to give a lecture recital on Kaija Saariaho’s Nocturne for Solo Violin in January 2021 at the Music and Movement Conference sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh
Raina is a founding member of the Glass Clouds Ensemble along with violinist Lauren Conroy and soprano Marisa Karchin. This group formed out of a mutual desire to connect meaningfully with environmental issues through contemporary music and improvisation, with a mission to amplify the message of New York area climate leaders through the commission, performance, and promotion of new music for chamber ensemble. Recent and upcoming highlights include performances at NYC venues such as the James Cohan Gallery and MISE-EN_PLACE, as well as residencies at the Avaloch Farm Music Institute and Yellow Barn.
