Stowe, VT (Top40 Charts/
Music Festival of the Americas) - The
Music Festival of the Americas at Stowe returns to this idyllic Vermont resort town in August, with a schedule of outstanding opera and classical concerts.
Music Director Alondra de la Parra returns to direct the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas l(POA) in their summer home for what is rapidly evolving into one of the most ascendant New England summer music festivals.
In 2004, Ms de la Parra founded the New York City-based Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas. She holds the distinction of being the first woman from Mexico to conduct in New York City, and has been heralded by opera star Pla'cido Domingo as 'an extraordinary conductor'; The Daily Beast calls her one of the 'Young Rockstars of the Conducting World", and she was recently featured on NBC's The Today Show.
In January, Ms. de la Parra and the POA completed a 2-CD recording for Sony Classical, celebrating Mexico's Bicentennial and featuring master works by Mexican composers. Entitled Mi Alma Mexicana (My Mexican Soul), it will be released on August 2, 2010, and celebrates two hundred years of orchestral music by Mexican composers.
The Music Festival of the Americas at Stowe takes place August 18-21, 8:00 pm at Symphony Court, Topnotch Resort & Spa in Stowe, Vermont. Tickets are priced $50 for VIP and $30 for general admission, and are available at www.musicfestivaloftheamericas.org or at the Stowe Visitor Center on Main Street in Stowe Village.
On Wednesday, August 18th, Ms. de la Parra will conduct the POA Chamber Orchestra for an evening of chamber classics.
Thursday, August 19th will feature 'A Night at the Opera', as Ms. de la Parra leads the full orchestra, along with opera stars from Placido Domingo's Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program. Soprano Jennifer Lynn Waters returns joined by Ukrainian baritone Oleksandr Pushniak, for a program of arias and duets from Bizet, Rachmaninoff, Mozart, Gounod, Verdi and others.
On Friday, August 20th, the orchestra will accompany Spanish classical guitarist Pablo Sa'inz Villegas, performing Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez. Mr. Sa'inz Villegas is renowned as 'The Soul of the Spanish Guitar' and is the recipient of more than thirty international awards, including the Andre's Segovia Award. This past season, he enthralled audiences, performing with some of the greatest orchestras in the world, including the New York Philharmonic, the Houston Symphony Orchestra and the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra. The Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas' principal cellist, Benjamin Elton Capps, will be the featured soloist on Schumann's Cello Concerto. Performances in celebration of 'Mi Alma Mexicana' will include Ricardo Castro's Intermezzo de Atzimba; Gustavo E. Campa's, Melodi'a for Violin and Orchestra Op. 1, featuring principal violinist Daniel Andai, and Jose' Pablo Moncayo's Huapango. An encore presentation of Arturo Marquez's Danzon 2 will end the classical concert.
Click here for complete program
The grand finale on Saturday, August 21st will heat up the night rhythms as Anything Goes! - a night of diverse musical styles, dancing and entertainment unlike any found in Vermont music festivals: a chance to kick off your shoes and samba, cha-cha, salsa, merengue and dance the night away. The house band, comprised of select orchestra members, will abandon its classical chops and go to the 'dark side' of Latin, rock, and hot jazz-anything goes! Adding to the excitement will be a special guest appearance by Latin recording star Mane de la Parra and his band.
As part of its mission to cultivate a life-long love of music, the Music Festival of the Americas at Stowe will donate twenty-five percent of the admission revenue from Saturday's 'Anything Goes!' to the Stowe schools' music programs.
The Music Festival of the Americas at Stowe is a non-profit 501(c) 3 corporation, which presents premier international virtuosos and rising young talent from both the classical and world-music genres, while adding a superior event to the roster of Vermont summer music festivals. Stowe is the summer home of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, which, under the baton of music director and orchestra founder Alondra de la Parra, brings unsurpassed opera and classical concerts to the Green Mountains of Vermont.
