De la Parra, I conduct for the women of my Mexico, 30. Sep 2021
The Mexican conductor born in New York conducts la Verdi and talks about her civil commitment in music.
Alonda de la Parra says that every time she gets on the podium, in Australia or in Milan or in New York, it doesn’t matter, she tries to go back with her mind «to the games I used to play with my grandparents as a child. With our grandfather we would put ourselves in a small space, one square meter in a hallway of the house, and after closing the doors we pretended to be in a magical elevator that could take us wherever we wanted. Grandma then told me many stories that made me cry, laugh, feel many emotions. And it was she who gave me my first piano ». Games and music. And the Mexican conductor, who on Thursday 30 September inaugurates the new concert season of the Giuseppe Verdi Symphony Orchestra of Milan, evokes the English verb to play «which means, in fact, to play, but also to play. Because «playing is above all a game. Of course, preparation, content, competence and hard work are needed, but everything must be done from a game perspective ». Alondra de la Parra, born in 1980, born in New York and raised in Mexico, with laVerdi (reruns on Friday 1 and Sunday 3 October at the Largo Mahler Auditorium which reopens after modernization works to make the room even safer also from the point of sanitation view) has Copland and Mahler, Ravel and Milhaud on the lectern, accompanied by tenor Julian Prégardien. «When I choose the programs I like to tell contrasts of times, nationalities, eras, styles. For Milan, I thought of a program where love stories are told from different perspectives, with a cultural contamination that makes everything more magical.»
How was your passion for music born, Alondra de la Parra?
“I’ve always been surrounded by music, my parents have always taken me to concerts. And since I was a child I have been making music: at 7 I played the piano, at 13 the cello. It was a natural fall in love, and music has gradually become the most important part of my life ».
The first years in New York and then the move to Mexico. What is your homeland, your home for you?
“I feel more Mexican than American, because my parents are Mexican, and because I grew up there. Even though I was born in New York because mom and dad were studying and working in the United States. When we returned to Mexico it was hard, because at that stage I wanted to stay in New York, a city that represented a world where there were so many good stories and where so many films were set. When I moved I went back to where I learned the trade, where I met my most significant supporters and where I had the key experiences for my career. And it was in New York that I founded my orchestra, the Philharmonic orchestra of the Americas ».
When did you decide to pick up your wand and get on the podium?
«Very early. At 13, I was «obsessed» with the scores of Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Bartók, and I dreamed of being able to conduct them. The orchestra still amazes me today, every time I step on the podium: I am always amazed in front of so many people, with different life experiences and with so many emotions that playing different instruments, becoming one voice. Getting all of this together is miraculous. I discovered this energy very early on, and I immediately recognized it as something special. I wanted to make it my life, also taking a risk because I met a certain mistrust, being a girl. Someone tried to discourage me, but I preferred to try and possibly make mistakes, rather than not trying at all. And I’m glad I did. »
So is it still difficult for a woman to carry out a profession that many immediately associate with men? Did you suffer discrimination?
«I have never felt out of place on the podium. The history of music is full of stories and illustrious characters who attest that male and female must be together, be present in the same way. You need both. In music, more and more women are on the podium, we are experiencing a great cultural change, and I am happy to be part of this change ».
Director, wife and mother. What does it mean for an artist to be always on the go?
“I would be lying if I said that I like the nomadic part of my job, because I really like being at home and having a routine. Of course, I love the different cultures I meet, and I like to have the widest possible perspective in seeing the world. I spend my time in so many countries, and everywhere I go I like to observe people’s behaviour and notice the differences that make them unique. But I must also say that spending time alone on planes or trains is difficult. In the future, I believe, we will have to find ways to ensure that directors do not have to move so much, working on larger projects in specific territories, to also have an eye on the environment, careful not to pollute as much as we do today. Perhaps the pandemic is already somehow forcing us to rethink this ».
This is also an opportunity to restart right after the pandemic.
«The fear, the limitations, the loss of my job from one day to the next destabilized me, but then I tried to make this moment an opportunity to reorganize my thoughts and my creative desires, focusing on projects that I was not yet managed to field, like The Silence of Sound, a project that brings together orchestra and clowns on which I had been working for six years. Not only that, the lockdown was a moment during which to focus more on issues that are close to my heart, such as the violence that devastates Mexico ».
Alongside her activity as a musician, she has always been committed to defending women’s rights in her own country. What’s the situation?
“It is almost impossible to understand how horrible the situation regarding violence against women in Mexico is. I decided to give my contribution to go against this scourge with the Impossible orchestra: I called together many talented musicians from all over the world to play and record a music composed by Arturo Marquez, Danzón n.2, to try to build together increased awareness of the situation and support institutions that help women and children who are victims of violence in my country. I am convinced that we can all do something to change and improve things. We did it through music.»
http://www.pierachilledolfini.it/2021/09/30/de-la-parra-dirigo-per-le-donne-del-mio-messico/?fbclid=IwAR1QRMFcRhRX6Ra4Oahx5khoTyCJGXREaOTKxb8i2uPR2ZDYWLJclgun7IoThe Mexican conductor born in New York conducts la Verdi and talks about her civil commitment in music.
Alonda de la Parra says that every time she gets on the podium, in Australia or in Milan or in New York, it doesn’t matter, she tries to go back with her mind «to the games I used to play with my grandparents as a child. With our grandfather we would put ourselves in a small space, one square meter in a hallway of the house, and after closing the doors we pretended to be in a magical elevator that could take us wherever we wanted. Grandma then told me many stories that made me cry, laugh, feel many emotions. And it was she who gave me my first piano ». Games and music. And the Mexican conductor, who on Thursday 30 September inaugurates the new concert season of the Giuseppe Verdi Symphony Orchestra of Milan, evokes the English verb to play «which means, in fact, to play, but also to play. Because «playing is above all a game. Of course, preparation, content, competence and hard work are needed, but everything must be done from a game perspective ». Alondra de la Parra, born in 1980, born in New York and raised in Mexico, with laVerdi (reruns on Friday 1 and Sunday 3 October at the Largo Mahler Auditorium which reopens after modernization works to make the room even safer also from the point of sanitation view) has Copland and Mahler, Ravel and Milhaud on the lectern, accompanied by tenor Julian Prégardien. «When I choose the programs I like to tell contrasts of times, nationalities, eras, styles. For Milan, I thought of a program where love stories are told from different perspectives, with a cultural contamination that makes everything more magical.»
How was your passion for music born, Alondra de la Parra?
“I’ve always been surrounded by music, my parents have always taken me to concerts. And since I was a child I have been making music: at 7 I played the piano, at 13 the cello. It was a natural fall in love, and music has gradually become the most important part of my life ».
The first years in New York and then the move to Mexico. What is your homeland, your home for you?
“I feel more Mexican than American, because my parents are Mexican, and because I grew up there. Even though I was born in New York because mom and dad were studying and working in the United States. When we returned to Mexico it was hard, because at that stage I wanted to stay in New York, a city that represented a world where there were so many good stories and where so many films were set. When I moved I went back to where I learned the trade, where I met my most significant supporters and where I had the key experiences for my career. And it was in New York that I founded my orchestra, the Philharmonic orchestra of the Americas ».
When did you decide to pick up your wand and get on the podium?
«Very early. At 13, I was «obsessed» with the scores of Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Bartók, and I dreamed of being able to conduct them. The orchestra still amazes me today, every time I step on the podium: I am always amazed in front of so many people, with different life experiences and with so many emotions that playing different instruments, becoming one voice. Getting all of this together is miraculous. I discovered this energy very early on, and I immediately recognized it as something special. I wanted to make it my life, also taking a risk because I met a certain mistrust, being a girl. Someone tried to discourage me, but I preferred to try and possibly make mistakes, rather than not trying at all. And I’m glad I did. »
So is it still difficult for a woman to carry out a profession that many immediately associate with men? Did you suffer discrimination?
«I have never felt out of place on the podium. The history of music is full of stories and illustrious characters who attest that male and female must be together, be present in the same way. You need both. In music, more and more women are on the podium, we are experiencing a great cultural change, and I am happy to be part of this change ».
Director, wife and mother. What does it mean for an artist to be always on the go?
“I would be lying if I said that I like the nomadic part of my job, because I really like being at home and having a routine. Of course, I love the different cultures I meet, and I like to have the widest possible perspective in seeing the world. I spend my time in so many countries, and everywhere I go I like to observe people’s behaviour and notice the differences that make them unique. But I must also say that spending time alone on planes or trains is difficult. In the future, I believe, we will have to find ways to ensure that directors do not have to move so much, working on larger projects in specific territories, to also have an eye on the environment, careful not to pollute as much as we do today. Perhaps the pandemic is already somehow forcing us to rethink this ».
This is also an opportunity to restart right after the pandemic.
«The fear, the limitations, the loss of my job from one day to the next destabilized me, but then I tried to make this moment an opportunity to reorganize my thoughts and my creative desires, focusing on projects that I was not yet managed to field, like The Silence of Sound, a project that brings together orchestra and clowns on which I had been working for six years. Not only that, the lockdown was a moment during which to focus more on issues that are close to my heart, such as the violence that devastates Mexico ».
Alongside her activity as a musician, she has always been committed to defending women’s rights in her own country. What’s the situation?
“It is almost impossible to understand how horrible the situation regarding violence against women in Mexico is. I decided to give my contribution to go against this scourge with the Impossible orchestra: I called together many talented musicians from all over the world to play and record a music composed by Arturo Marquez, Danzón n.2, to try to build together increased awareness of the situation and support institutions that help women and children who are victims of violence in my country. I am convinced that we can all do something to change and improve things. We did it through music.»