Lebanese musician, Joanna Nashef, first ME woman conductor in US

In its issue of today, An Nahar spotlighted Joanna Medawar Nashef, the California-based Lebanese American conductor, the first woman from the Middle East to become a conductor. On her career path, An Nahar wrote that Joanna’s mother personally directed her to the world of music where she started piano lessons at the age of 7. Later, on the break of the civil war in her country, the family emigrated to the United States in 1976. Joanna joined an orchestral conducting university class and earned a PhD in conducting at 26, An Nahar said. Today, Joanna is a music instructor and director of Choral Activities at El Camino College. She has founded and is the art director of Joanna Medawar Nachef Singers, An Nahar wrote. (An Nahar, November 29, 2019)