Julie Desbordes

Julie Desbordes, DMA

Multidimensional conductor and educator Dr. Julie Desbordes leads ensembles in the Americas, Asia, and her native France. She recently has been appointed Assistant Professor and Director of Orchestras at the University of Arizona, where she will oversee the orchestral program, teach conducting, and collaborate with the opera program.

Prior to this role, she served as Music Director of the Philharmonia Orchestra at Arizona State University (ASU) beginning in 2019. In addition, she served as Interim Director of Orchestras at ASU for the 2023-2024 season which opened with a concert fully curated, produced and conducted by Dr. Desbordes, in celebration of Mexican Independence Day. Driven by her commitment and vision to bringing communities together through music, she worked on partnering with colleagues across ASU and Phoenix, including Mariachi ensembles, attracting a sold-out audience to our 3,000-seat auditorium and concluding with a post-concert block party complete with food trucks and additional entertainment.

In addition, she is Music Director of several ensembles in the greater Phoenix area, including the Symphony of the Southwest, the Salt River Brass, and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Phoenix Youth Symphony Orchestras.

Prior to arriving in Arizona, Dr. Desbordes conducted community and youth orchestras in New York City, among them, the Turtle Bay Youth Orchestra, the Queer Urban Orchestra, and the Chelsea Symphony. With those ensembles, she presented innovative programs that attracted large, enthusiastic audiences. In between her New York commitments, she appeared as a guest conductor with orchestras in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Venezuela, and Cuba.

Active in the El Sistema movement, she was a featured cast member in the documentary film, Crescendo! The Power of Music, directed by Jamie Bernstein, and she is a frequent guest conductor and teaching artist for youth ensembles internationally. Moreover, since 2019, she has regularly led workshops for educators at the Weill Music Institute of Carnegie Hall, applying the Institute’s Great Music Teaching Framework, and is closely working with the Carnegie team on various projects ever since.

Dr. Desbordes holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Orchestral Conducting from the Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University, where she studied under Marin Alsop. She previously earned master’s and bachelor’s degrees in conducting and trumpet performance from conservatoires in France and Canada.