Panel discussion: Australian wind band music now and into the future

Rachel Howley is a conductor, music educator and researcher. Having completed a Doctor of Musical Arts (Conducting) at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, Rachel has conducted some of Australia’s finest elite youth ensembles, including the Queensland Youth Symphony, the Queensland Conservatorium Wind Orchestra and at MOST, a selective program for Queensland’s most accomplished secondary school musicians. She is also a conductor in the Young Conservatorium program at Griffith University, conducts several times a year within the Queensland State Honours Ensembles Program and is a member of the Queensland Wind Orchestra conducting team. In addition, Rachel is regularly engaged as a clinician throughout Australia.

In 2015, Rachel was the founding Director of Grace Academy at Grace Lutheran College, a leading Queensland educational institution in Performing Arts and is sought after as a music education consultant and mentor. Rachel’s research explores the role of the conductor in championing the works of Australian female composers. She actively advocates for diversity and fair representation through repertoire selection. In 2018, she founded the Australian Women’s Wind Band Composition Award, contributing nearly 50 new works by Australian female-identifying composers to the industry.