The work whose interpretation brought her fame was Aaron Copeland's "El Salon Mexico," composed in 1936, and she gained more popular acclaim for her conducting of Beethoven's Leonore No.
比賽是在紐約的卡尼基音樂廳舉行的，她的得獎作品是美國作曲家柯普蘭的「墨西哥酒店」。這首曲子非常複雜，但在郭美貞的指揮下，卻呈現多采多姿、無比燦爛、像行雲流水一樣舒暢自如的風貌，而且她的態度瀟灑、動作優美，評審委員一致認為最佳指揮的榮譽，非她莫屬。