GEORGIA EKONOMOU
Described by her colleagues as “A musician who will energize an ensemble like no other conductor, Georgia brings excitement and love for music from the podium that is truly amazing. The results of her work can be seen in the students she teaches; she encourages them not only to become better musicians, but better people as well.”
Mrs. Ekonomou is the former Director of Orchestras at The Paideia School (Atlanta, Georgia) and The Lovett School (Atlanta, Georgia). Her Lovett orchestras performed at the 1990 MENC National Conference in Washington DC, the 1997 GMEA (Georgia Music Educators Association) Conference in Savannah, and at the 1997 IAJE (International Association of Jazz Educator’s) Conference in Atlanta. The Paideia Chamber Orchestras performed at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center in 2005, at Jordan Hall in Boston in 2007, and the Ryman Theater in Nashville in 2009. Her groups consistently received Superior ratings at Local and National competitions.
Her educational background includes a Bachelor of Music Education from Northwestern University. At Northwestern, she studied Violin with Samuel Magad, concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony, and sang in the Northwestern University Chorus under the direction of Margaret Hillis. Following Northwestern, she received a Master of Music Education from Georgia State University. Additionally, she spent 3 summers studying conducting at the Conductor’s Institute in South Carolina under Harold Farberman, Donald Portnoy, Dan Lewis, and John Giordano.
During the summers of 2014 and 2016, she conducted the Intermediate Symphony Orchestra at the Interlochen Summer Arts Festival in Michigan.
In 2006, Ekonomou founded the Atlanta Junior Chamber Orchestra, the preparatory orchestra of the Emory Symphony Youth Orchestra. Under her leadership, AJCO became the premier orchestra in the Atlanta Area for students grades 7-9. Ekonomou conducted AJCO for 13 years and returns to Emory this season to conduct the newly formed Emory Youth Chamber Orchestra.
Ekonomou is the recipient of many awards including:
*The Georgia American String Teachers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, in honor of her contribution to Musical Excellence in the State of Georgia.
*The Lovett Schools Woodward Award for Excellence in Teaching.
*The American String Teachers Association Presidents Award for outstanding service to the national organization.
A violinist, she has performed with the Atlanta Opera Orchestra, the Woman’s Jazz Orchestra of Los Angeles, the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra, the Emory Chamber Players and other ensembles in the Atlanta area.
Mrs. Ekonomou is a member of GMEA, ASTA, and Nafme. She has served on the advisory committee for the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, and on the national ASTA Membership committee. Presently she serves on the Emeritus committee for the American String Teachers Association. She is active throughout the United States as a conductor, clinician and adjudicator.