Alondra de la Parra has taken the world’s concert halls by storm. She has conducted more than 100 orchestras in 20 countries, shattering the glass ceiling in a male-dominated profession.
Born in 1980 in New York, Alondra de la Parra decided early on that she wanted to become a conductor. Her great dream has taken her on a long journey - and it is far from over yet. De la Parra’a roots are in Mexico - but her orchestras and her audiences are all over the world. She is a trailblazer who has made history by being appointed the first ever music director and female conductor of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in 2017.
Alondra de la Parra began playing the piano at age seven and the cello at 13. After studying in England and the United States - with Kurt Masur and Kenneth Kiesler among her mentors, she founded the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas (POA) in 2004 at age 23. To date, she has conducted more than a hundred orchestras in twenty different countries. Her spellbinding and vibrant performances have gained her widespread attention. Part of her unusual approach to classical music is the unique way she infuses her cultural heritage into the world of classical music: “I’ve always been an advocate that Mexican and Latin American music belongs in the core repertoire of every philharmonic orchestra.”
Aside from her musical prowess, the documentary portrait from 2018 traces the multiple facets of Alondra’s life, offering insight into the beginnings of her career, her background and family in Mexico, and accompanies her to Brisbane as she works with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, as well as to Germany, where she conducts the Bamberg Symphony and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.
For La Maestra, de la Parra allowed us access to her private archive, and the film presents previously unpublished footage from the conductor’s life, including videos shot at a workshop with legendary German conductor Kurt Masur in New York.
At a glance:
(00:00) Intro (Alberto Ginastera: Variaciones Concertantes Op. 23, 12. Variazone finale in modo di Rondò per orchestra)
(01:16) Titles
(02:52) Work as conductor with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in Brisbane
(12:41) Childhood and education in Mexico
(20:53) Student of Kurt Masur at the Manhatten School of Music in New York
(24:43) Beginnings of the career as a conductor
(25:16) Alondra de la Parra in Germany (Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5, II. Andante cantabile, con alcuna licenza)
(31:33) Success as conductor worldwide (Silvestre Revueltas: La Noche de los Mayas, III. Noche de Yucatán - Night of Yucatán)
(37:44) Back in Brisbane
(41:14) On tour with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
(44:38) Concert at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg (Arturo Márquez: Danzón No. 2)
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