JOANNA MEDAWAR NACHEF, is recognized as the first woman conductor from the Middle East. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, she moved to Los Angeles in 1976. Dr. Nachef is the Director of Choral & Orchestral Activities at El Camino College, having earned her Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Southern California. She is founder and Artistic Director of JOANNA MEDAWAR NACHEF SINGERS and Artistic Director/Conductor of the Torrance Pops Orchestra. Since 1980, she has served as the Choir Director at Peninsula Community Church.
Dr. Nachef has directed both locally and in guest appearances in motion pictures, and toured nationally and internationally with her performing groups. Over the past 30 years, her concert tours included the U.S, Canada, Hawaii, Eastern Europe, Vienna, Lebanon and Russia. Her guest conducting appearances have included the 6 performances at Carnegie Hall with The New England Symphonic Ensemble, Pacific Symphony Orchestra, National Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra, Torrance Pops Orchestra, Carson/Dominguez Hills Symphony Orchestra, El Camino College Symphony Orchestra, and Beirut Chants Symphony Orchestra.
Dr. Nachef has been an active member of the American Choral Directors Association. She served as the California Multicultural Repertoire and Standard chair for WACDA and presented at several national and division conventions. Dr. Nachef was Interim Dean for the Division of Fine Arts at El Camino College for Fall 2016. She was selected to be the faculty representative on the college’s strategic planning committee in 2017-2018.
She is speaker and “Citizen Diplomat” for the US State Department, a charter board member and past president for the LA/Beirut Sister City Organization and alumnae of the U.S. Institute of Peace, Washington D.C. She has received numerous lifetime achievement and prestigious awards which most recently include the Daughters of The American Revolution’s 2015 State Americanism Medal, El Camino College’s Distinguished Faculty Award 2014-2015, was featured in the 2017 Book “100 Influential Lebanese Figures around the world”, and was the first recipient of TPAC 2019 “Peace and Harmony” Award.
In the summer of 2019, she coordinated, led and conducted her first US Dept. of State Grant-Funded international concert tour to Russia with her choral group, JMNS. JMNS was the first American Choir to be featured in the St. Petersburg 2019 “Singing World Festival”, and their rousing performances of Gospel Music and Spirituals received high acclaim, both in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
On May 25, 2024, Dr. Nachef gave her 7th guest conducting appearance at Carnegie Hall, with the EL Camino College Symphony, ECC Choirs, Joanna Medawar Nachef Singers and Sons of Thunder Choir.