“The conductor of an orchestra doesn’t make a sound. He depends, for his power, on his ability to make other people powerful.”
Benjamin Zander
Her conducting studies brought her to the United States, where she trained at The Catholic University of America with Simeone Tartaglione and Murry Sidlin, and later earned a Master of Music from Michigan State University under Dr. Octavio Más-Arocas and Dr. Katherine Kilburn. She has held assistant and guest-conducting roles with the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, Grand Rapids Youth Symphony, Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras, and the DC Concert Orchestra Society.
Dedicated to both the classical canon and the music of today, Ms. Corona actively champions composers including Anna Clyne, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Jessie Montgomery, Caroline Shaw, Mason Bates, Kevin Day, and Kamala Sankaram. She has conducted orchestras across Mexico, such as the Orquesta de Música Popular de la Universidad Veracruzana and the Orquesta de la Universidad Autónoma de Baja California.
In 2024, she was selected for the masterclass at the College Orchestra Directors Association National Conference in Nashville and now serves on CODA’s National Women’s Advocacy Initiative Board as a student representative. That same year, she joined Opera in the Ozarks as assistant conductor, stepping in to lead performances of Vittorio Giannini’s Beauty and the Beast and Maurice Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, while also serving as music director for the festival’s children’s opera outreach.
As a violinist, Ms. Corona has performed with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Battle Creek Symphony, Orquesta Filarmónica de Guayaquil, Orquesta de Baja California, Orquesta Filarmónica de Sonora, Orquesta Filarmónica de Toluca, and Orquesta de Cámara de la Ciudad de México. She has appeared at festivals across Mexico, Canada, Ecuador, and the United States, including Opera in the Ozarks, Ricardo Castro, Opera Maya, Eurochestries, and Festival Internacional Cervantino.
María Fátima Corona del Toro is an award-winning conductor from Nayarit, Mexico, and the 2025 national recipient of The American Prize in Conducting in the University/Community Opera Division. She is currently completing her Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Arizona School of Music under the mentorship of Dr. Thomas Cockrell. A 2022–23 University Fellow, Ms. Corona has served as assistant conductor for the Arizona Symphony Orchestra, UA Opera Theater, and the Philharmonic Orchestra. In Fall 2025, she will lead the Arizona Symphony Orchestra in concert and will conduct Die Fledermaus with the Orchestra of the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California.
Ms. Corona began her musical life as a violinist, graduating with honors from the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California. Shortly after, she became the conductor and artistic director of Esperanza Azteca Nayarit, a national social-music initiative providing underserved youth with access to high-level classical music education. Her appointment marked the first time a woman held a conducting post within the program nationwide. Over nearly a decade, she led the organization’s efforts across Mexico’s northwest region.