Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas
Alondra de la Parra and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas return to summer home - The Music Festival of the Americas in Stowe, VT
August 18, 2010
August 18, 19, 20 & 21 at 8pm
Symphony Court | Topnotch Resort & Spa
4000 Mountain Road | Stowe, Vermont
Tickets: $30/$50 each concert at 802.760.6797 or www.musicfestivaloftheamericas.org
De la Parra’s & POA’s debut album Mi Alma Mexicana to be released by Sony Classical on August 3
“Ms. de la Parra elicited a vibrantly nuanced performance whose bristling conclusion had the audience … on their feet.” – The New York Times
Video of Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas: www.poamericas.org/aboutus.html
Video of Alondra de la Parra: www.alondradelaparra.com/media/index.php
New York, NY & Stowe, VT— The Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas (POA), conducted by founder and artistic director Alondra de la Parra, will return for the sixth year to the orchestra’s idyllic summer home at the Music Festival of the Americas in Stowe, Vermont for four diverse concerts on August 18, 19, 20, and 21, all at 8pm. The Music Festival of the Americas takes place at the Topnotch Resort & Spa’s Symphony Court (4000 Mountain Road, Stowe, VT). Featured soloists include award-winning Spanish classical guitarist Pablo Sáinz Villegas, opera stars from Placido Domingo’s Washington National Opera Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists’ Program, POA’s principal cellist Benjamin Elton Capps, and POA’s concertmaster Daniel Andai.
POA’s concerts in Stowe come shortly after the August 3 release of the orchestra’s debut recording on Sony Classical, Mi Alma Mexicana (“My Mexican Soul”). Mi Alma Mexicana is a 2-CD set celebrating Mexico’s 2010 Bicentennial with 200 years of orchestral music by Mexican composers. The orchestra’s August 20 concert in Stowe will include three pieces from the new release.
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 has been heralded by opera star Plácido Domingo as “an extraordinary conductor,” and most recently was featured in Crain’s New York Business as one of their “40 under 40 New York’s Rising Stars,” and singled out in The Daily Beast as one of the “Young Rockstars of the Conducting World.”
On Wednesday, August 18, De la Parra will conduct the POA Chamber Orchestra in a program of A Little Night Music.
Thursday, August 19 is A Night at the Opera, as she conducts the full orchestra and is joined by opera stars from Placido Domingo’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program. Jennifer Lynn Waters, who moved audiences last year with exceptional arias and duets from Puccini, Verdi and Bizet, will be joined this summer by Ukrainian baritone Oleksandr Pushniak, in a program of arias and duets.
On Friday, August 20, the featured soloist will be Spanish classical guitarist Pablo Sáinz Villegas in Joaquín Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez. Mr. Sáinz Villegas is renowned as “The Soul of the Spanish Guitar” and the recipient of more than thirty international awards, including the Andrés Segovia Award. POA will perform three pieces from the orchestra’s new Mi Alma Mexicana CD – Ricardo Castro’s Intermezzo de Atzimba, Gustavo Campa’s Mélodie pour violin et orchestre, Op. 1 featuring POA concertmaster Daniel Andai as the violin soloist, and José Pablo Moncayo’s Huapango. The concert will also include Schumann’s Cello Concerto with POA’s principal cellist, Benjamin Elton Capps, as soloist.
The grand finale on Saturday, August 21 heats things up with Anything Goes! – a night of diverse musical styles, dancing and festivities: a chance for audiences to samba, cha-cha, salsa, merengue and dance the night away. The house band, comprising select orchestra members, will perform Latin, rock, and hot jazz, with special guest appearances by pianist Marco Godoy and Latin recording star Mane de la Parra and his band. As part of its mission to cultivate a life-long love of music, the Music Festival of the Americas will donate twenty-five percent of the admission revenue from Saturday’s Anything Goes! to the Stowe schools’ music programs.
ABOUT POA: The Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas was founded in 2004 by then-23 year old Mexican conductor and pianist Alondra de la Parra, and is now an international symphony orchestra serving as a platform to showcase young composers and performers from the Americas. POA itself comprises the next generation of emerging classical music talent. The majority of orchestra members are under age 35 and hail from 22 different countries. Since its inception, POA has performed for the President of Mexico; has been hosted at the White House, the Mexican Embassy, and the Canadian Consulate; has given concerts for over 30,000 audience members in New York, Mexico City, Guadalajara, Oaxaca, Dallas, and Washington, DC, among other cities; has provided important New York City debut opportunities to 20 emerging soloists from the Americas; has performed 10 world premieres of American composers; has established an international Young Composers’ Competition; and has initiated the innovative Niños arts and education program for underprivileged youth in the United States and Mexico. Last summer, the orchestra made its well-received debut as orchestra-in-residence at the prestigious Napa Valley Festival del Sole, collaborating with violinist Sarah Chang and actor Robert Redford. In October 2009, POA made its debut with a dance company as part of Christopher Wheeldon’s Morphoses Dance Company at New York’s City Center. In 2008, the orchestra toured Mexico for the second time and performed in a tribute to Gloria Estefan at the Latin Grammy Awards. For more information, visit www.poamericas.org.
ABOUT MUSIC DIRECTOR ALONDRA DE LA PARRA: 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. As Symphony magazine put it, “de la Parra doesn’t seem to put much stock in the ‘glass ceiling.’” She holds the distinction of being the first woman from Mexico to conduct in New York City, and has been honored by the City for her contributions to the arts with a proclamation. For the past two years, she has received the League of American Orchestras Women Conductors’ Grant. In May 2008, de la Parra became the youngest member to join the board of trustees of the Latin Grammy Awards, and she holds the title of Cultural Ambassador for Mexican Tourism.
Alondra de la Parra’s recent and upcoming highlights include return engagements with the San Francisco Symphony, and her subscription concert debut with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Abroad she conducts Brazil’s Sao Paulo Symphony, Canada’s Edmonton Symphony, Germany’s Kammerakademie Potsdam and Moritzburg Festival Orchestra, and Denmark’s Tivoli Symphony. In addition, since 2005 she has been Music Director of the Music Festival of the Americas in Stowe, Vermont. Previous performances have included appearances with the symphony orchestras of Houston, Phoenix, Columbus, San Antonio, the Chicago Sinfonietta, and the Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de Mexico, as well as conducting concerts at the New Hampshire and Colorado Summer Music Festivals. Additional highlights have included a gala concert with the Washington National Opera and Plácido Domingo; a return performance with the Russian National Orchestra at the Festival of the Arts Boca; conducting Venezuela’s Simón Bolivar Youth Orchestra, which gave her their highest honor bestowed to a musician; leading the Singapore Sun Festival Orchestra where she collaborated with actor Geoffrey Rush; as well as conducting to critical acclaim the Dallas Symphony, Mexico’s Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa and Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Miami’s New World Symphony, the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Aguascalientes, and Uruguay’s Montevideo Philharmonic.
Alondra de la Parra makes her home in New York City with her husband, and holds a B.A. in piano performance and an M.M. in conducting from the Manhattan School of Music. Since 2003, her mentor and teacher has been Kenneth Kiesler, and she has participated in masterclasses with Kurt Masur. Alondra de la Parra is represented worldwide by Tanja Dorn at IMG Artists. For more information, please visit www.alondradelaparra.com.
ABOUT THE MUSIC FESTIVAL OF THE AMERICAS AT STOWE: The Music Festival of the Americas is a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation, presenting premier international virtuosos and rising young talent from both the classical and world-music genres, and celebrating the rich cultural heritage of the Americas. Stowe is the summer home of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, which, under the baton of music director and orchestra founder Alondra de la Parra, brings unsurpassed music to the Green Mountains of Vermont. For more information, visit www.musicfestivaloftheamericas.org.
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