Alondra de la Parra

“Elegant, assured and lyrical”

– The Wall Street Journal

At age twenty-two, Alondra de la Parra became the first Mexican woman to conduct in New York City. Uniquely entrepreneurial, Ms. de la Parra founded the dynamic NY-based Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, which promotes young soloists and composers from the American continents. She was twice selected as one of seven participants in Kurt Masur’s conducting seminars. Maestro Masur remarked her being “a highly knowledgeable conductor who carries the will and intentions of the composers with great responsibility”. De la Parra was recently praised by American Symphony Orchestra League’s president Henry Fogel who stated “she leads her musicians with a wonderful combination of technique, emotional involvement and expressivity”.

Ms. de la Parra has appeared as guest conductor with the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco, Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil de Veracruz, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Aguascalientes, Uruguay’s Montevideo Philharmonic and Mexico’s National Symphony Orchestra, among others. She recently made her Carnegie Hall debut as guest conductor of the New York Pops Orchestra. She has also conducted the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra in Venezuela, where she was awarded the highest honor given to a musician.

 In 2000 Ms. de la Parra moved to New York City to study piano and conducting. She received the Presser Scholarship at the Manhattan School of Music where she completed her BM in Piano Performance under the direction of Jeffrey Cohen. Alondra is currently a full-scholarship Master’s candidate in Conducting at the Manhattan School of Music where she is the recipient of the Gabe Wiener Merit Fellowship. In 2003 she first attended renowned conducting mentor Kenneth Kiesler’s Conductor’s Retreat in Maine, an opportunity that she passionately describes as “the most life-changing and inspiring musical experience”. Maestro Kiesler has since become her mentor. Ms. de la Parra has also been coached by Marin Alsop, Charles Dutoit and Sir Simon Rattle.