Dr. Julia Baumanis
Associate Director of
University and Athletic Bands

Dr. Julia Baumanis is Associate Director of Bands at Rutgers University and is the first female instrumental conductor at Rutgers University in its 259-year history, as well as the first female of color hired full time in the conducting area at Rutgers. She is also the Artistic Director and Conductor of the New Brunswick Chamber Orchestra, a professional orchestra serving New Jersey for over 60 years. She is a conductor and music educator that is dedicated to empowering the people within her ensembles.  An avid advocate for new works, Baumanis has premiered the works of chamber and large ensembles, giving voice to new music throughout a variety of performance settings.  A collaborative conductor, she has collaborated with guest artists as featured soloists on her programs, including Dr. Elena Chernova-Davis (violin) prizewinner of the Aleksander Glazunov International Competition, Grammy nominated Conrad Herwig (trombone) of Rutgers Jazz, and Kenneth DeCarlo (trumpet) of the New York Philharmonic. 
 

A graduate of The Florida State University College of Music, Baumanis received her bachelor’s in Instrumental Music Education, her master’s degree in Instrumental Conducting Performance, and her PhD in Music Education and Instrumental Conducting and has studied under the batons of Richard Clary, Patrick Dunnigan, and Alexander Jimenez.  Prior to graduate school, she taught public school in south Florida as the Associate Director of Bands and Orchestras at J.P. Taravella High School and the Director of Orchestras at Ramblewood Middle School.  She also served as chamber music coordinator and program manager of the Tallahassee Youth Orchestra and got her first “orchestral” start with the founding of the Miami based “Hip Hop Symphony,” which was a collaborative performance ensemble incorporating a chamber orchestra, a heavy metal rock band, and an improvisatory dance troop. 
 

Baumanis currently serves as Assistant Professor of Professional Practice on the Conducting and Music Education faculty at Mason Gross School of the Arts. Her duties include serving as the Associate Director of University Bands, teaching all undergraduate and graduate level conducting courses, the Conductor of the Rutgers Symphony Band, Associate Director of the Marching Scarlet Knights, Director of Pep Bands, and teaching courses in instrumental music education.  Prior to this appointment, Baumanis served on the conducting and music education faculty at the University of Central Missouri, where she helped lead the wind ensemble program and served as Pit Conductor for the university’s musical theatre program. 

She currently serves within the music community as a member of the Education and Repertoire Committee for the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE), as the co-chair of the Mentorship Committee for Women Band Directors International (WBDI), on the Education Advisory Committee for Music for All, and as co-author of GO ON, Tell Your Story: Voices of Women Band Directors, a publication which highlights the shared experiences of 100 women conductors (GIA Publications). 
 

An active performer, educator, and researcher, Baumanis frequently is invited to guest conduct All State and Area Honor ensembles and has presented her research nationally, including at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the NAfME Research Symposium, the CBDNA National Conference, and the Desert Skies Music Education Research Symposium.  Most recently, her research has focused on developing a conductor’s baton that records data collected from a conductor’s expressive gestures. She hopes to implement this technology in the conducting classroom as a technological tool to assist beginning conductors in developing their craft.  

Her love for music extends to every inch of her life with her partner and husband, Adam Klein, recording engineer (1451 Music, Grammy Academy member). Together, they collaborate as recording engineer and producer on jazz and chamber music albums, including Nightfall and Midnight Rebels, Paul Cohen Sax Ensemble (released through Parma Recording 2025), and The Voyager Reed Quintet, Debut Album (set to release in 2026). Their first date was front row tickets to Esperanza Spalding on her Radio Music Society Tour, and their cats Titus and Peanut, were adopted from the Fat Cat Cafe, where they were raised on a healthy diet of bebop.