Alondra de la Parra, Guest Conductor

Conductor Alondra de la Parra has gained widespread attention for her spellbinding and vibrant performances making her one of the most compelling conductors of her generation. She was recently hailed following a concert with the San Antonio Symphony as "uncommonly gifted... her blood and bone and breath are music. She is all music, from top to bottom and from inside out." Ms. de la Parra holds the distinction of being the first woman from Mexico to conduct in New York City , and most recently, was appointed Cultural Ambassador for Mexican Tourism.

Among her 2008-2009 season highlights have been conducting a gala concert with the Washington National Opera and Placido Domingo, and concerts with the Dallas Symphony, Mexico's Orquesta Sinfonica de Xalapa, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Columbus Symphony, Miami's New World Symphony, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the San Antonio Symphony, the Singapore Sun Festival Orchestra where she collaborated with actor Geoffrey Rush, and a return performance with the Russian National Orchestra at the Festival of the Arts Boca. This past season she conducted the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas (POA), the orchestra that she founded, on a second tour to Mexico as well as in a tribute to Gloria Estefan at the 2008 Latin Grammy Awards. Past concerts have included with the Russian National Orchestra collaborating with Joshua Bell and Sir James and Lady Jeanne Galway, and conducting Venezuela's Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra, who gave her their highest honor bestowed to a musician. Other orchestras that Alondra de la Parra has conducted to critical acclaim include Mexico's Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional, the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, the Orquesta Sinfonica de Aguascalentes, Uruguay's Montevideo Philharmonic, and the Westchester (NY) Philharmonic.

Ms. de la Parra's upcoming engagements in the United States will include performances with the Phoenix Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Huntsville Symphony, Chattanooga Symphony, the Chicago Sinfonietta and a return concert with the Westchester Philharmonic. Abroad she will be conducting Mexico's Orquesta Filarmonica de la UNAM, Brazil's Sao Paulo Symphony, and Canada's Edmonton Symphony. This summer she will conduct concerts at both the Colorado and New Hampshire Summer Music Festivals, in addition to leading the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas at Napa Valley's Fesival del Sole and Vermont's Music Festival of the Americas at Stowe.

The New York Times said, "With incisive gestures, Ms. de la Parra elicited a vibrantly nuanced performance whose bristling conclusion had the audience... on their feet." The Dallas Morning News stated, "Her gestures were precise and strategic, and she clearly feels and expresses the music's tensions and releases. She shapes phrases and builds one toward the next. These are qualities all too rare on today's podiums." And, Henry Fogel, CEO of the League of American Orchestras commented on her conducting of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, "Alondra led the orchestra, but she gave them freedom. She conducted phrases, not bars and beats. That's a treat, particularly in a young conductor."

Among Ms. de la Parra's accolades are a proclamation from New York City honoring Alondra for her contribution to the arts, as well as being featured in Poder magazine as one of "20 under 40" and in Symphony magazine as one of six "Young Artists on the Rise." She is the recipient of the League of American Orchestras' prestigious Helen M. Thompson Award for emerging directors recognizing not only musical excellence but administrative and managerial talent. In addition, Ms. de la Parra was the feature of a story that appeared in the "Arts & Leisure" section of The New York Times (June 1, 2008), and in May 2008, became the youngest member to join the board of trustees of the Latin Grammy Awards.

In 2004 at the age of 23, Alondra de la Parra founded the New York-based Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas (POA), comprised of young professional musicians, with the mission to promote the work of young soloists and composers of the American continent. Since its founding, POA has performed at New York's Lincoln Center and Washington, D.C.'s The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; has undertaken two international tours with concerts in New York, Dallas, Mexico City (2007); and Houston, Mexico City, Guadalajara and Oaxaca (2008); performed for Mexico's President Felipe Calderon as well as First Lady Laura Bush; produced recordings; and fulfilling Ms. de la Parra's vision has initiated a Young Composers' Competition as well as establishing an Arts and Education Program.

A big champion of new music, Ms. de la Parra has presented more than twenty world premieres by composers including Clarice Assad, Enrico Chapela, Paul Brantley, Paul Desenne, and Eugenio Toussaint, to name a few.

Additional recognition has come to Ms. de la Parra as the winner of the New York Post 1010 Wins "Tomorrow's Newsmakers" Arts & Entertainment Award, as well as being named the 2007 "Rising Star" of the New York Woman's Agenda. She was recognized by the League of America Orchestras as a recipient of the Women's Conducting Grant, was showcased as one of WNYC's Portrait for The New Americans, and was a subject in both Men's Vogue and Latin Vogue. Ms. de la Parra was selected twice as one of seven participants in conducting seminars led by Kurt Masur. Maestro Masur remarked, "She is a highly knowledgeable conductor who carries the will and intentions of the composers with great responsibility."

In 2000, Ms. de la Parra moved to New York City to study piano and conducting. She received her bachelor of music degree in piano performance from Manhattan School of Music where she was a student of Jeffrey Cohen, as well as her master of music degree in conducting. For the past seven years she has studied conducting with her mentor, Kenneth Kiesler. Ms. de la Parra has also been coached by Marin Alsop and Charles Dutoit.

Alondra de la Parra lives in New York City. She is represented worldwide by Tanja Dorn at IMG Artists. Please visit her website at www.alondradelaparra.com.