Powerfully compelling, Deanna Tham is known for hercaptivating and tenacious spirit on and off the podium. She is currently the Music Director of the Redlands Symphony Orchestra, Union Symphony Orchestra and most recently the Associate Conductor of the Oregon Symphony.

Tham currently works regularly doing guest conductingand covering engagements with the Fort Worth Symphony, Nashville Symphony,Colorado Symphony, Oregon Symphony, National Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, and the San Francisco Symphony. She has additionally appeared with Opera Idaho,Orpheus PDX, 45th Parallel, and Present Music Milwaukee. Previously, she was the Assistant Conductor of the Omaha Symphony, following her tenure as Assistant Conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony and Principal Conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestras. In 2024 she appeared in the prestigious La Maestra Conducting Competition in Paris, France where she was a semi-finalist. Additional recent engagements include Assistant Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra (NYO-USA and NYO2) and Assistant Conductor of the Chicago Sinfonietta with Maestro Mei-Ann Chen. Tham has performed at the Promsin Royal Albert Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and Seiji Ozawa Hall at theTanglewood Music Center working with Maestros James Ross, Joseph Young, and Sir Antonio Pappano, as well as renowned artists Isobel Leonard and Joyce DiDonato. Her past positions include those with the Boise Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Louisville Youth Orchestras, and American Chamber Opera. In 2013, Tham’s work with the National Music Festival was featured on National Public Radio as well as American Public Media.  Her past positions include those with the Boise Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Louisville Youth Orchestras, and American Chamber Opera.

Tham is passionate about cross-genre collaborations and educational concerts. These projects include full-feature blockbuster movie scores, collaborations with OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science), Loyal Legion Beer Hall, Connect to Dance, Cirque Musica, broadway and stage artists like Cheyenne Jackson, Thorgy Thor, and Lindsey Stirling, pop cover groups like Jeans ’n Classics, independent artists like Silent Film Score connoisseur and composer, Ben Model, Southern Range Brewery, the Louisville Ballet Academy, and the International Culinary Arts and Sciences Institute. She is additionally a staunch advocate of music education from school education engagement and youth orchestral performing opportunities to lifelong learning. In 2018, Tham and the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestras made their debut at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California. Tham has also written original school-curriculum-based programs for numerous symphony orchestras..

Tham is a second-place winner in the Youth Orchestra Conductor division of the American Prize. She has worked with renowned conductors Marin Alsop, James Ross, Victor Yampolsky, and Ken Kiesler. Tham holds a Professional Studies Certificate from the Cleveland Institute of Music in Orchestral Conducting studying with Maestro Carl Topilow. She received her Master of Music in conducting from Northwestern University studying with Dr.Mallory Thompson. There, she additionally worked with Dr. Robert Harris, Victor Yampolsky, and Dr. Robert Hasty. Tham received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in horn performance studying with Dennis Abelson, Zachary Smith, Bob Lauver,and Steven Kostyniak at Carnegie Mellon University.