'Musica Maestra': Classical format with Alondra de la Parra
July 13, 2017
”The cooperation with the German foreign broadcaster has been “an inspiring experience on a completely different stage,” said the 36-year-old director. “Musica Maestra” premieres in mid-July with weekly web videos on DW’s English and Spanish Facebook accounts “DW Culture” and “DW (Español).” On October 14, the television series will debut in both English and Spanish.
The director guides viewers through the world of talented musicians like Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki and French cellist Gautier Capuçon. The audience not only gets an insight into the work of the artists but also catches a glimpse of their private lives. The portraits are rounded off with scenes including sessions with de la Parra and the protagonists as well as concert recordings, a look backstage and scenes taken with the musicians while on tour.
For Deutsche Welle, “Musica Maestra” offers renewed opportunity to present classical music in a contemporary way to their audiences. “Alondra de la Parra embodies a new type of musician in the classical field,” said DW Director General Peter Limbourg. “She considers the new rules for the realization of classical music and is not afraid of other musical genres. She uses social media like a pop star would and brings incredible music to many young people. And she is an amazing female conductor in a male-dominated field.”
Alondra de la Parra: “My work gives me the opportunity to meet wonderful artists and see who they are behind the stage. I am thrilled to have the amazing platform of DW to share a glimpse of how our world really is, hoping to bring classical music to everyone.”
The web videos and the TV shows for “Musica Maestra” were produced by “Bernhard Fleischer Moving Images“ (BFMI).
Biography Alondra de la Parra
Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra has gained widespread attention for her international performances and her commitment to promote Latin American composers.
She frequently works with some of the world's most prestigious orchestras including Orchestre de Paris, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra dell’ Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich. In 2017 she started her term as general music director of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, becoming the first ever music director of an Australian orchestra.
In the 2016/17 season, she made her debut with Bamberger Symphoniker, Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Further highlights were her debut at Beethovenfest Bonn and concerts with the BBC Philharmonic.
In Latin America, de la Parra works frequently with a diverse array of Mexican ensembles as well as the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, the Orquestra Sinfonica Brasileira, the Orquesta Filarmónica de Buenos Aires and the Brazilian Symphony Orquestra. She has received awards and acclaim for her work with the Simón Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela.
Alondra de la Parra was born in New York City and moved to Mexico with her parents at age two. She began playing the piano at age seven and the cello at 13. After studying in Mexico City and New York, she founded the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas in 2004, hoping to create a platform to showcase young performers and composers of the Americas and securing a firm place in the standard orchestral repertoire for the continent's music.
Since 2003, Alondra has developed several education programs in public schools of New York and in Mexico. She has done multidisciplinary collaborations with artists such as actors Geoffrey Rush and Robert Redford and musician Gloria Estefan.
Alondra de la Parra is an official cultural ambassador of Mexico.