Poster Alondra de la Parra
Conductor Alondra de la Parra
Photo: Felix Broede
Performance Today®

Alondra de la Parra

When Alondra de la Parra was growing up in Mexico, she played piano, but she had terrible stage fright. As a conductor, she draws on the seemingly simple advice of a respected mentor: “Be strong”. On today's show, Alondra de la Parra leads the WDR Radio Orchestra in a live concert performance of "Variaciones concertantes" by Alberto Ginastera.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Juventino Rosas: Sobre las Olas (1884)
Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas | Alondra de la Parra, conductor
Album: Mi Alma Mexicana (My Mexican Soul)
Sony Music Entertainment

Alberto Ginastera: Variaciones concertantes, Op. 23
WDR Radio Orchestra | Alondra de la Parra, conductor
Klaus van Bismark Hall, WDR Recording Hause, Cologne, Germany

Ahmed Alabaca: Ascension
Karel Dohnal, clarinet | Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra | Robert Kružik, conductor
Album: Prisma, Vol. 3
Navona Records NV6271

Charles Avison: Concerto Grosso No. 1 in A, (After D. Scarlatti)
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra | Richard Egarr, conductor
SPCO, Ordway Concert Hall, Saint Paul, MN

Hour 2

Astor Piazzolla: Fuga e Misterio
Imani Winds
Album: Imani Winds
eOne Music International Classics

Marc-Andre Hamelin: Toccata on "L'homme arme"
Yekwon Sunwoo, piano
Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Bass Hall, Fort Worth, TX

Valerie Coleman: A Right to Be
Julietta Curenton, flute | Mark Dover, clarinet | Monica Ellis, bassoon | J.P. Redmond, piano
Chamber Music Northwest, Lincoln Recital Hall, Portland, OR

Igor Stravinsky: Orpheus, ballet music
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra | Vladimir Jurowski, conductor
RBB Broadcasting House, Berlin, Germany

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American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.

Performance Today® features live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else, highlights from new album releases, and in-studio performances and interviews. Performance Today® is based at the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is frequently on the road, with special programs broadcast from festivals and public radio stations around the country. Also, each Wednesday, composer Bruce Adolphe joins host Fred Child for a classical musical game and listener favorite: the Piano Puzzler.

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