May 25, 2012  to May 26, 2012

Alondra conducts Copland
8 p.m., Majestic Theatre

Thirteenth concert in the Masterclassics series
Seventh concert in the Ovation series

Alondra de la Parra, conductor
Mikhail Simonyan, violin

Castro Intermezzo from Atzimba

Khachaturian Concerto for Violin

Copland Symphony No. 3

Copland quotes the theme from his Fanfare for the Common Man and uses it to create one of the most dramatic finales in American music.

Still in his early twenties, violinists Mikhail Simonyan is already recognized as one of the most celebrated talents of his generation. The New York Times has praised his, “breadth, lyricism and fleet technique,” and reported that “Mr. Simonyan play[s] as if every note counted.” The Miami Herald has declared, “Mikhail Simonyan . . . played with the poise, perfection and inner burning fire of a master like David Oistrakh in his prime on a good night.”

Mr. Simonyan, who hails from Novosibirsk (the same city that Vadim Repin and Maxim Vengerov call home), began to study the violin at the age of five. In 1999, at 13, Mr. Simonyan made his acclaimed New York debut at Lincoln Center with the American Russian Young Artists Orchestra (ARYO) and his debut in St. Petersburg, Russia at the Mariinsky (Kirov) Theatre.

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. She holds the distinction of being the first Mexican woman to conduct in New York City, and is an official Cultural Ambassador for Mexican Tourism. She has been heralded by Plácido Domingo as “an extraordinary conductor.”

Born in New York City in 1980, De la Parra moved to Mexico with her parents at age two. She began playing the piano at age seven and the cello at 13, and it was that year that she decided she wanted to be a conductor. At 15, she went to boarding school in England to study music and achieved her A-levels there. After returning to Mexico, she studied composition at Centro De Investigación y Estudios Musicales (Center of Music Studies, CIEM) in Mexico City before moving to New York City at age 19, and attending the Manhattan School of Music where she studied piano with Jeffrey Cohen and conducting with Kenneth Kiesler.

 

This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.”