Tonight, in a conversation recorded last week, I speak with the young Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra (above). Just 29, de la Parra is the founder and artistic director of the New York-based Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas and music director of the Music Festival of the Americas in Stowe (Vermont). She was in town to lead concerts of the wonderfully multicultural Chicago Sinfonietta as a candidate for music director of that organization. Miss de la Parra and I talk about changing perceptions of classical music of the Americas, about founding her own orchestra, their upcoming CD, and about being a young female conductor, among other topics. We'll also listen to some music of the great Carlos Chávez (1899-1978) and of Arturo Márquez (b. 1950).
10 p.m. to 11 p.m. CDT on 98.7WFMT Chicago and via free streaming on wfmt.com and subsequently available indefinitely for download/podcast/streaming at wfmt.com/criticalthinking.
See you on the radio!
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