ALONDRA DE LA PARRA,
MUSIC DIRECTOR
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. Placido Domingo has heralded her as "an extraordinary conductor" and by press 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 holds the title of Cultural Ambassador for Mexican Tourism.
Among her recent conducting highlights are performances with the symphony orchestras of Houston, Phoenix, Columbus, San Antonio and the Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de Mexico, as well as conducting concerts at the New Hampshire and Colorado Summer Music Festivals.
This past summer, she led the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas at the Napa Valley Festival del Sole where they collaborated with violinist Sarah Chang and actor Robert Redford, and at Vermont’s Music Festival of the Americas at Stowe. Additional concert 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, who 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 Aguascalentes, and Uruguay´s Montevideo Philharmonic. In November 2008, she conducted POA on a second tour to Mexico as well as a tribute to Gloria Estefan at the Latin Grammy Awards.
Ms. de la Parra´s other engagements have included concerts with the San Francisco and Chattanooga Symphony Orchestras, the Chicago Sinfonietta and a return concert with the Westchester Philharmonic. Abroad she will be conducting Mexico´s Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM, Brazil´s Sao Paulo Symphony, and Canada´s Edmonton Symphony.
Honored by New York City for her contributions to the arts, Alondra de la Parra was a cover story in Caras magazine, recognized by Poder magazine as one of "20 under 40" and in Symphony magazine as one of six "Young Artists on the Rise." In May 2008, she 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) with the mission to promote the work of young soloists and composers of the American continent. Since its founding, POA has engaged in international tours, produced recordings, established an Arts and Education program and initiated a Young Composers´ Competition.
Alondra de la Parra is represented worldwide by Tanja Dorn at IMG Artists.
See recent rave reviews for Alondra and the POA:
The Orange County Register - May 17, 2010 -
Bajofondo Brings High Energy to Disney Hall
New York Times - May 12, 2010 -
Celebrating Mexico With Works of Its Own
Chicago Classical Music - March 20, 2010 -
Alondra de la Parra Brings Out the Best in Sinfonietta
PABLO SÁINZ VILLEGAS, Spanish Classical Guitar
By capturing the Gold Medal at the inaugural Christopher Parkening International Guitar Competition,
Pablo Sáinz Villegas has quickly established himself as one of the world's leading classical guitarists. Known as "The Soul of the Spanish Guitar", he has performed in over twenty-five countries around the world on such prestigious stages as New York’s Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, Milan’s Sala Verdi and Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. Recipient of more than thirty international awards including the “Andrés Segovia” award, Mr. Sáinz Villegas has appeared as soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic, the Houston Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, the Russian Philharmonic, Orchestra I Pomerigi Musicali and Orquesta de Radio Televisión Española, among others. He has participated in renowned international festivals in Brasilia, Granada and Strassburg, and has worked with prominent composers including George Crumb, Cristóbal Halffter and Helmut Lachenmann. Mr. Sáinz Villegas has appeared with ABC (Australia), The BBC (U.K.), Radio 2 Clásica RNE and TVE (Spain), Radio France and Euroradio. Pablo Sáinz Villegas has recorded Luciano Berio´s monumental
Sequenza XI on the Naxos label. He has also released a CD of Spanish music on the same label that features the world première recordings of
Five Anecdotes by Andrés Segovia and
Sonata-Fantasía by Federico Moreno-Torroba.
Musik Heute magazine selected this recording as “CD of the Week”. Mr. Sainz Villegas’ live recording of the
Concierto de Aranjuez with the Orquesta de Radio Televisión Española conducted by Adrian Leaper, was released by the RTVE label for their “Clásicos Españoles” collection.
An accomplished teacher, Mr. Sáinz Villegas has given master classes at distinguished universities such as the Royal College of Music in London and the National University of Australia.
JENNIFER LYNN WATERS, SOPRANO
Soprano Jennifer Lynn Waters is in her second season with Placido Domingo’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program. Ms. Waters collaborates with several local organizations including The Martha Graham Dance Company, The Maryland Concert Opera, The Frederick Symphony Orchestra, The Bach Concert Series, as well as The Harford Choral Society. She has participated in The Caramoor Music Festival under the direction of William Crutchfield, and will be performing for her second year with the Music Festival of the Americas at Stowe this summer. Ms. Waters holds a Masters Degree of Music from George Mason University, and a Bachelors Degree of Music from The University of Mary Washington. Her many role credits include Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Leonora (Cover) in Il Trovatore, Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana, the title role of Suor Angelica, and Sicle in L'Ormindo. Roles with the Washington National Opera include Frasquita in Carmen, Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos, and Woglinde in Götterdaemmerung.
OLEKSANDR PUSHNIAK , BARITONE
In 2007, baritone Oleksandr Pushniak was a semi-finalist in Placido Domingo's Operalia competition held in Paris, France and a prizewinner of the European Song Contest within the Styriarte Music Festival in Austria. Pushniak joined the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists Program in 2008, where he continues to master his professional skills. In the Washington National Opera's 2008-2009 season he has performed as Dottore Grenvil in Verdi's Traviata; Petrucci in Donizetti's Lucretia Borgia, and Mandarin in Turandot by Puccini.
In the 2009-2010 season, baritone Pushniak will be performing the role of Fiorello in Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Rossini; the roles of both Antonio and Conte in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. In addition he will perform the title role in Verdi's Falstaff as well as many other concert performances with the Young Artists Program.
At the National Music Academy of Ukraine, Pushniak performed the roles of Wagner in Gounod's Faust; Bartolo in The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart; Dulcamara in Donizetti's Elixir of Love; Marco in Gianni Schicci by Puccini, as well as roles in several Ukrainian operas.
Pushniak graduated from the National Music Academy, Ukraine in 2007 with a degree in music and vocal performance.
BENJAMIN CAPPS, CELLO
A native of New York City, Mr. Capps began playing the cello at age four, studying with Nellis DeLay at Manhattan’s School For Strings, and then for seven years at the pre-college program of the Juilliard School. He is the principal cellist of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, and the Music Festival of the Americas at Stowe is pleased to welcome him this season as a featured soloist with the POA. He also serves as an instructor for the Philharmonic Orchestra of the America’s Arts and Education Program. His playing has been praised as “most appealing“ by Bernard Holland of the New York Times and “rich . . and human” by the New York Sun. He is the recipient of many awards, including Disney Young Musicians Orchestra in Los Angeles, 1999; New York State Association of Music Teachers Scholarship Competition 1999; Juilliard Pre-College Symphony, Concerto Competition, 2001; Schlern International Music Festival Competition, 2004; the Lillian Fuchs Award, 2004, and the Francis Goelet Scholarship, Juilliard, 2008.
He has performed at such prestigious venues as Carnegie’s Stern, Weill and and Zankel Halls, Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center, Mann Hall (Tel Aviv), Meyerson Hall (Dallas), the Palace of Fine Arts and Sala Nezahualcoytl (Mexico City), and has been featured on WQXR’s Young Artist’s Showcase. An avid chamber musician, he has participated in the Bowdoin, Schlern Int’l (Italy) and Summit Summer Festivals, the Perlman Music Program, the ChamberFest and FOCUS! Festivals in Lincoln Center, and was a guest artist at the Burgos International Festival (Spain) in 2008. Mr. Capps founded the Capanglia Trio in 2003, the Sonar Players in 2006, and the New York Chamber Collective in 2007 An ardent performer of new music, he is committed to premiering and performing new music of other composers, as well as his own composition. His is currently a candidate for a Master’s degree at the Juilliard School (2010), and has studied with David Soyer since 2003.
MANE DE LA PARRA
Check out Mane's videos from his latest album, MANE
Es Mentira
La Fórmula
Twenty-seven year old composer-singer-guitarist, Mane de la Parra, is taking the world of Latin popular music by storm. Born in Mexico City, Mane discovered his interest in music early, and began classes in guitar and voice at age fifteen. During his studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he earned his BA in 2005, he made the decision to pursue a career in music. Mane has also studied flamenco guitar at the Liceo de Barcelona with Manuel Granados, regarded throughout Europe as one of the finest guitar players on the continent.
In 2005, Mane was presented the Peermusic BMI Latin Scholarship Award by Carlos Santana, at the BMI Latin Musc Awards in Las Vegas, for his composition Me Toco Amarte. The following year the Student of Latin America Music Club, the first Latin music competition awarded by the Alumni Association of America, Berklee College, honored him.
Throughout his career, Mane has been fortunate to collaborate with extremely talented artists who have inspired and supported the production of his first solo album, the self-titled Mane. Musicians who have joined him on the Latin pop recording include Oskar Cartaya, who has recorded with Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, and Fausto Garcia, drummer for Stevie Wonder. The recording has sold over 60,000 copies and is on target to be a huge hit.
Recently, Mane has added “actor” to his other achievements, with a starring role in the enormously popular Mexican telenovela Summer of Love, for which he wrote and performs the theme song.
PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA OF THE AMERICAS
Under the artistic vision of Music Director Alondra de la Parra, POA embraces the concept of a contemporary ensemble that stresses the importance of high-caliber music from Latin America and the rest of the world. We see ourselves as a laboratory for artistic expression, embracing our responsibility to support promising young performers, composers, instrumentalists, conductors and all types of diverse artists from Latin America and beyond. We strive to be an integral part of a twentieth-first century New York City, eager to share our heritage of passion for the music with a broad public. Most importantly, we recognize the need for breaking the boundaries and stereotypes of the traditional concert format in order to bring symphonic music back to being a relevant part of people’s lives.
WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA'S DOMINGO-CAFRITX YOUNG ARTIST PROGRAM
Founded in 2002 and overseen by Plácido Domingo, the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program is unique in guiding young singers, coach/accompanists, conductors, and stage directors as they pursue international careers. The Program provides intensive study with renowned vocal and drama coaches, and offers voice lessons, language classes, and training in health and movement.
The Young Artists also have the opportunity to perform and cover roles on the main stage of Washington National Opera.
The Young Artists have performed at Opéra de Monte-Carlo, the White House, the Kennedy Center Honors, the Inter-American Development Bank Cultural Center, the Senate Caucus Room, the Mexican Cultural Institute, the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery, the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, and numerous embassies, schools, and military bases. Each season, the Young Artists sing a fully staged performance at the Kennedy Center Opera House. This season they presented Verdi’s La Traviata.
Graduates of the Program have gone on to successful careers including performances at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Santa Fe Opera, the National Symphony Orchestra, Weill Recital Hall, Los Angeles Opera, Canterbury Opera in New Zealand, Staatsoper Berlin, Teatro Real in Madrid, and Opéra de Monte-Carlo.
The Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program is made possible by the generous support of the Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation
