Dr. Noreen Green
Conductor and Artistic Director

Biography  

     Dr. Noreen Green is currently conductor and artistic director of the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony, music director at Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, California, a renowned lecturer on Jewish Music and an accomplished educator who has developed six successful educational programs presented by the orchestra.  In addition she is a devoted wife and mother to her husband, Dr. Ian Drew and their two children, Aaron and Hannah.  

     In seven years she has brought neglected as well as new orchestral works on Jewish themes to the stage; provided an orchestra or chamber ensemble for fund raising events for the LA Jewish community including Shalhevet High School, My Jewish Discovery Place (now the Zimmer Children’s Museum), Israel Bonds, Mt Sinai Memorial Park, Jewish Federation – both city and Valley Alliance, Sinai Akiba, and Maimonides; performed three Greek Theater concerts for Blazer Communications, and performed in Israel.   

     On a personal level the recognition she has received from the print and radio media has been overwhelming, with major articles including the LA Times, Daily News, Jewish Journal, The Heritage, The Jewish News; feature profiles in the Hadassah National Magazine, University of the Pacific and University of Southern California alumni magazines,  a National Public Radio interview as well as interviews on local stations (KUSC, and KCSN) In addition  she has received the Women of Significance Award from Adat Ari El Sisterhood (April, 2000),  been invited as guest lecturer for the University of Judaism and as a featured speaker for the Los Angeles Philharmonic  Upbeat Live series where she spoke  and present ed chamber music as a Jewish music expert. Most recently she conducted during the opening ceremonies of the 2001 Maccabi  Games in Philadelphia.   

     Dr. Green received a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Choral Music from the University of Southern California, and a Master of Music Degree in Choral Conducting under the well-known conductor John Alexander at California State University, Northridge.  For ten years she was the Music Director at Temple Ramat Zion in Northridge and from 1981 to 1990, Noreen was the conductor of the American Jewish Choral Society. During her tenure she directed an eclectic variety of Yiddish, Hebrew and Ladino choral works.  As a specialist in Nowakowsky’s music, Dr. Green  lectured at the Second International Festival of Jewish Music in Odessa, Ukraine and in Dresden, Germany, at a colloquium of Eastern European Jewish music performed under totalitarian rule.  She also presented a workshop at the Reform Cantor’s Convention in Toronto. 

     From 1986 to 1992, Dr. Green was an Assistant Professor at CSUN where she conducted the Woman’s Chorale, the Chamber Singers, and served as Music Director for CSUN Musical Theater productions. In the summer of 1991, Noreen was a conducting fellow at the Oregon Bach Festival, where she worked with Helmuth Rilling. In the summer of 1993, Noreen participated in the conducting seminar at the Aspen Music School, where she worked with conductor Murry Sidlin. With his encouragement, Noreen  developed the concept for and then founded the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony.