Aija Draguns (b. 1999) is a Sydney-based composer, conductor, and singer. Her compositions draw inspiration from her Latvian heritage, particularly the folk and choral traditions. She studied piano, saxophone, and singing before attending the Sydney Conservatorium of Music to pursue composition. Aija holds a Bachelor of Music and an Honours degree in Composition and is currently completing her Master’s studies specialising in language in vocal composition under Professor Paul Stanhope.

Her works have been programmed and performed around Australia by ensembles, most notably The Australian Voices, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and Orchestra, the National Youth Choir of Australia, Oriana Chorale, Sydney Chamber Choir, Melbourne Trinity College Choir, Sydney Conservatorium choirs and opera school, Trinitiy Grammar School choir, Coro Innominata, The House that Dan Built, and Alta Collective. In 2023, Musgrove Opera premiered Aija’s children’s opera Max and Moritz at the Sydney Opera House. In 2024, she premiered and conducted her new opera In Cosmic Utero at NIDA’s Parade Theatre, in collaboration with director Lindy Hulme, performed by Sydney Conservatorium opera singers and orchestral players. In Cosmic Utero was nominated in 2025 for APRA AMCOS Dramatic work of the year.

Aija is aan emerging orchestral and choral conductor. She began her conducting training at the Sydney Conservatorium, where she founded a student composer choir, and has since completed conducting courses and masterclasses with conductor Elizabeth Scott and John Lynch through the Conservatorium and other professional programs. In 2021, she was awarded the Ensemble Apex Orchestral Conducting Fellowship under Sam Weller. The following year, she received the Create NSW Conducting Fellowship with Sydney Youth Orchestras (2022–23). In 2023, Aija premiered her first full orchestral program with the Woollahra Philharmonic Orchestra (WPO), conducting works by Kodály, Mozart, and Schubert. In 2026, she is working with the WPO again, conducting Rimsky-Korsakov, Saint Saens, and Haydn. In 2024, she participated in conductor training programs with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, including the Australian Conducting Academy’s Conductor Launchpad with Benjamin Northey and the Louise Crossley Masterclasses with Jessica Cottis. She was subsequently selected for the 2025 Australian Conducting Academy, where she trained with state orchestras across the country, including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and Queensland Symphony Orchestra. She has also received mentorship from conductors including Zahia Ziouani, Kira Omelchenko, and Fabian Russell. In 2026, Aija has been selected as one of the conducting fellows for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fellowship program, working with various conductors and masterclasses throughout 2026.

She regularly leads ensembles across Sydney, including the Leichhardt Espresso Chorus, Shore (Foreshore) choir, and the Sydney Latvian Male Choir- the longest-running Latvian male diaspora choir in the world.

Aija also works as an orchestral arranger, recently writing for Queen Orchestrated and David Bowie Orchestrated shows performed around Australia. As an active performer, she is a folk singer and plays the Latvian folk instrument kokle. She regularly performs solo, duet, and ensemble music in the ethno-pop and Latvian modern folk genres. In 2023, she represented Australia in a televised Latvian diaspora concert in Rīga, Latvia, performing her work Gula Meitīna (Sleeping Girl).

In 2023, Aija was the fifth recipient of the Andris Ritmanis Creative Future Memorial Fund award from the PBLA Kultūras fonds un Padome (The Cultural Foundation and Council of the World Association of Free Latvians), a prize awarded to diaspora Latvian musicians and poets in support of future creativity. Aija is the second Australian to receive this award.

For Aija, composing and conducting go hand-in-hand, offering unique insights into each artform—insights she hopes to share with her players, singers, and audiences.