[ Classical music plays ] ♪♪ ♪♪ Parra: I remember when I was 13, 14, that I already wanted to be a conductor, that I thought, "How am I gonna be a conductor?

if I don't look anything like the conductors."

The conductors are supposed to be German, and very old, and with white hair.

And I'm Mexican, and I'm a kid, and, you know, I'm a woman.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ I just want to make music with people who want to make music as much as I do, who cannot find anything more important than the moment that they are in when they're making music.

So, then, I do want to conduct the best orchestras in the world, because I want that drive from the gut.

Drive, passion, imagination, and putting all our energy in one place.

♪♪ ♪♪ [ Speaking German ] ♪♪ She's very methodical in rehearsals, but really, the performances where she's at her best, or is in her element.

You know, she has an animal instinct about performing.

♪♪ [ Speaking German ] Narrator: To say Alondra de la Parra's career has been very unusual would be an understatement.

She's a Mexican conductor who has taken the world's concert halls by storm.

Born in 1980, she studied in England and the United States, and now she's the mother of two children.

Her great dream has taken her on a long journey, and it is not over yet, by any means.

Her roots are here in Mexico, but her orchestras and her audiences are to be found all over the world.

She's already conducted more than 100 orchestras in 20 different countries.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Almost 13,000 kilometers from Mexico City, the Australian metropolis of Brisbane.

Its cultural heart is the District of Southbank.

Since 2017, Alondra de la Parra has been music director of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra -- one of nine professional orchestras in the country.

In Brisbane, Alondra de la Parra has taken on not only the artistic leadership as music director, she also has management duties -- a major step in her career.

Pratt: In the 21st century, if an orchestra is going to survive and thrive, we must be, um... part of the community.

Very approachable.

Breaking down old stereotypes of orchestras and conductors.

And Alondra, to me, represents the music director of the 21st century.

Narrator: The music director has a great influence on the concert program.

The bulk of the music she plays with her orchestras is from the classical European repertoire.

But this week, they're rehearsing works by Latin American composers.

Alondra de la Parra is passionate about this project, but for the orchestra, it's unchartered territory.

Russel: I think, generally, everyone celebrates change.

It's a really great change.

She still tackles the huge symphonies.

We're still doing Mahler.

We're still doing a lot of, you know, Mozart, Beethoven.

But she's also brought a lot of different fresh repertoire to the orchestra.

Parra: So this symphonic poem was based on a poem by a Cuban poet called Nicolas Guillén.

And "Sensemaya," the poem, is about the ritual of the Aboriginals of Cuba -- Afro-Cuban Indians -- and it's about how to kill a snake.

And the snake, of course, is the bass clarinet.

[ Imitates bass clarinet ] And if you read the words to the poem -- [ Speaks Spanish ] -- every word and every phonetical idea is placed into the music.

So, all those accents relate to, when you read the poem, how it would sound.

Okay.

23.

[ Orchestra plays ] ♪♪ ♪♪ I always want to promote the music of the Americas.

And that's why this concert is so important, because it's probably the first time that this music is played in Australia.

And I believe this repertoire deserves a place in every orchestra's core repertoire.

And I'm going to, of course, do that with my orchestra.

Those chords in the strings, after 36, is basically -- it's not a bow you have.

Imagine you have a sword, and you're a Mayan going behind some enemy, and just stabbing.

Okay.

36.

[ Orchestra plays ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ This kind of music has a very, very different kind of rhythmic concept to sort of 19th century European music, for example.

The rhythmic structures or cycles of a Strauss tone poem are very, very different.

Comes from here.

So, it shouldn't -- never sound like anything Latin.

There's nothing Latin.

It's caveman.

So it's more like -- [ Imitates drums ] No -- No Tito Puente, you know?

It's more like "conga wonga."

That kind of thing.

[ Orchestra plays ] ♪♪ It's easy for any foreigner to fall into clichés about our music, and think, "Oh, Mexican, Latin American music, is all about moving your hips, and being, you know...

sexy."

And it's not, at all.

[ Playing continues ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Narrator: Alondra de la Parra spends around three months every year in Australia.

Brisbane has become something like her second home.

She has a lot of meetings and appointments.

But this Saturday, she's taking time out with her son, Luciano.

They're visiting the popular Davies Park market.

[ Speaking Spanish ] ♪♪ ♪♪ Parra: This city really combines the things I like the most of my favorite cities.

Like, I love Berlin because of the markets, and buying healthy food, and all that.

It has the beauty of the cities that are on the beach, where there's lots of nature, and the weather is beautiful.

There's no traffic.

It's really child-friendly.

I love that.

It's really hard to get here.

It's really far away.

But once you're here, it's quite -- quite a paradise.

Wow.

My dream is to just live in one place, and not have to move, to have a routine, to not have to pack.

I hate packing because I have to do it so often that -- that it's so tiring.

Um... so I would love to just stay in one city, but -- but I can't right now, because my career is in Europe, my home and my family is in Mexico, and my job is here in Australia.

So... [ Imitates harp ] So sweet.

Because yesterday, we were drawing -- we were drawing instruments.

And he was saying, "I want a pig that plays violin."

And he goes -- [ Imitates violin, oinks ] [ Laughs ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Narrator: More than 8 million people live in the Mexican capital.

This is also Alondra de la Parra's hometown.

And Mexican culture has left a deep impression on her.

Her family and many of her friends live here.

She visits her father as often as she can.

♪♪ [ Speaking Spanish ] With beans, cream, salsa.

Dad: Salsa.

Lettuce.

Lettuce.

[Indistinct] fantastic word.

Why?

That change everything.

That put you in different world.

Because you cannot say, "Oh, Alondra, we have to do this."

"Why?"

And that -- that "why" was very interesting.

I didn't realize there was this particular word -- "Por que?"

"Why?"

-- that really make her the girl she is now.

Narrator: Alondra was born in New York City in 1980, but grew up in Mexico.

Her father is a writer, her mother a teacher.

Her parents divorced while she was still small.

She has a brother who is a rock musician, and a sister who works as a linguist.

[ Indistinct talking ] Graciela: Alondra was very enthusiastic.

She was always willing to give a smile, a giggle.

She's a director -- a conductor of music.

And it's hard to be a mother of a conductor.

You know why?

Because I enjoy all what she does.

But sometimes, I say, "Wait a minute.

I'm your mother.

Wait a minute."

Because it's too much leadership.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Barros: She was very demanding, but in a very kind way.

And she would ask to be taken to the theater.

We would take her to concerts.

She would be interested in attending parties and social gatherings.

But she had a very good hand to ask for things.

♪♪ ♪♪ Mane: We did fight a lot.

Always with love, always with with good attitude, but yeah, it wasn't that easy.

You know, just imagine you have a sister that she's a conductor since she was born.

So, she says what to do, what not to do, who to play, who not to play.

[ Indistinct singing ] [ Singing continues ] Back in the day, when she was 7 or 8, I remember going to my soccer practice, and then go to my sister's piano lessons, to pick her up.

And I was always listening, and listening to her every day.

[ Imitates piano ] Every day, and every day.

And I say, "Why is she playing that awful song that is not even a song?"

And she's -- she's getting -- getting the notes wrong, you know?

And -- And I was like, "Hey, you're getting the notes wrong."

I was like, "Yeah, I'm trying.

You cannot play it."

♪♪ ♪♪ This is my... Narrator: A business meeting in the living room.

These are my programs.

Alondra de la Parra's agent, Tanya Dorn, has arrived from Germany.

[ Indistinct talking ] Together, they go through the calendar for the year after next.

Also, they need to figure out the program for Komische Oper that Nicola Benedetti.

In the classical music world, it is common to plan programs and concerts very far into the future.

This program should be completely different than your program with Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, because here, they will also present one concert in Berlin at Konzerthaus.

So, we have -- it has to be something completely different, especially because it's two.

But Komische opera is full orchestra, right?

Yes.

Narrator: Even as a small child, Alondra de la Parra was excited about music.

She learned piano, then cello.

From early on, she seemed destined for a career in music.

This is -- This is my brother giving me flowers in one of my first piano recitals.

Probably the first.

I mean, I was, there, maybe 7 or 8 -- 7.

8, maybe.

And he was 5.

Dorn: Do you remember what you played?

Oh, yes.

I played "Rondo Alla Turca."

[ "Pondo Alla Turca" plays ] I played "The Entertainer."

[ "The Entertainer" plays ] [ Indistinct talking ] Yeah, a lot.

Maybe that was -- Huge repertoire.

Huge repertoire.

And the beautiful thing about that time was that my first piano teacher, Amparo Arcaraz, she's a wonderful lady.

She is.

And she was more like a grandmother to me.

That was at the time where my parents were splitting up.

So, yes, I would play the piano, have the lesson.

I would just tell her how I was feeling.

I would cry.

It was more like a therapy.

It sort of felt like, yeah, my parents can split up, they can go their ways.

But what I can have is music.

And that will never leave me.

And so, I sort of grabbed onto to music then.

Yeah.

♪♪ ♪♪ I spent so many years with it.

I gave up so much for it.

You know, no vacations, no weekends, just attached to a piano.

Everywhere I would go, "Is there a piano?"

And always struggling.

And also this feeling of -- this insecurity I had.

It was -- the most frightening thing I can imagine, that I've lived, is having to walk on stage as a solo concert pianist.

It's just... And then, as a conductor, I never felt that -- not from day one.

And you can see it in some of the videos.

You know, I didn't know how to move, and I was all awkward, and I didn't have any technique.

But I was fine there.

It was -- There was some sense of, "Yeah, I'm fine, I can do this," that I never got with the piano.

Yeah.

[ Orchestra plays ] Narrator: Alondra went to a boarding school in England, and it was there that she began to conduct.

Later, she studied in the United States, at the Manhattan School of Music.

[ Orchestra plays ] Her teacher is both challenged and promoted her -- among them, the American conductors, Kenneth Kiesler and Marin Alsop.

[ Classical music plays ] In 2003, she was chosen for a workshop in New York with the great German conductor Kurt Masur.

♪♪ Parra: And there was this list.

I remember going up to the board at Manhattan School of Music, and then seeing the 10 people, or 12, he had picked.

And then, seeing my name.

"Wow!"

And I remember telling some of my friends, "He picked me."

And then, some people saying, "Oh.

He picked you?

Really?"

"Yes."

"Well, maybe you should consider withdrawing because, you know, he's really, really, really mean to his students.

And someone like you, who hasn't conducted much, you know, will be basically eaten up, and you won't survive."

Do you fear to be [indistinct]?

-No.

-No.

Come on.

Keep yourself going.

You have a [indistinct].

I hope your heart doesn't stand still.

Come on.

[ Laughter ] [ Orchestra plays ] ♪♪ It's much better.

Once more.

Somebody taught you to paint.

Don't paint.

Yeah.

Years later, I said, "Okay, you've taught me for many years now.

Tell me what I need to work on."

And I thought he was gonna say, "Well, the Schumann this, and the Mozart that, and the Mendelssohn."

And he said, "No, no, just one thing.

Be strong, my friend.

Be strong."

That's it.

But give me -- "Be strong.

Just be strong."

And every time, every day, almost, I hear "Be strong."

The coordination between your breathing and the beating is not there.

You're painting.

You're making... Do it one more.

[ Orchestra plays ] [ Speaks indistinctly] [ Orchestra plays ] [ Orchestra plays ] [ Speaks indistinctly] So sorry.

I tried to help you to get yourself.

Come on.

Let's breathe together.

[ Exhales ] [ Exhales ] Good.

[ Orchestra plays ] No, it's still not good.

[ Orchestra plays ] Now they are together -- not because of my beard, Because of my [ exhales ].

[ Orchestra plays ] Parra: He was really generous and wonderful with me.

And that really propelled everything, because it was the students who were playing in that orchestra who then became POAs.

They were the same players that became my orchestra a year later.

And it was Masseur's endorsement that really helped helped me get their -- their respect, because, otherwise, they would have thought, "Oh, she's a pianist.

why would we listen to her?"

But "Oh, Masseur thinks she's worth our while, so..." You know?

So, it was really a huge help.

[ Applause ] Narrator: The young conductor's career quickly gathered speed.

In 2004, she founded a Mexican-American Symphony Orchestra in New York, which later became known as the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas.

♪♪ Alondra de la Parra is both its conductor and its business manager.

♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪ ♪♪ Germany is another important waypoint on Alondra de la Parra's journey.

She's conducted many of the country's major orchestras, such as the Bamberger Symphoniker, one of the country's top ensembles.

But her first encounter with the orchestra led to disappointment.

♪♪ Parra: 10 years ago, I was here already once, as a competitor in the Mahler Conducting Competition.

And I remember entering this hall, and listening to the orchestra for the first time, and how impressed I was, and thinking, "Wow, that's really the level of orchestra that I would love to get to conduct."

♪♪ I tried my best, but I actually didn't make it past the very first round.

It was disappointing, of course.

And I remember thinking, "I really wish that, somehow, the world goes around, so that I can get, one day, the opportunity to conduct this orchestra."

[ Speaking Spanish ] You have such a huge program, and you're still playing so beautifully with all that other things you have to do.

Really, my respect.

Really.

Wonderful.

Wonderful.

Okay.

Just a few things.

I'm not going to torture you to death, but there are a few things.

♪♪ Germany's been the place where I conducted the most -- even more than in my own country, even more than in the United States, where I was formed, and started conducting.

Most of the major composers came from here.

That's why I'm fascinated, and that's why I'm doing my little attempts to learn German, as well, because I find that the language is so connected to the music.

[ Speaking German ] Because they're having to really scream, and we just want to be under them.

We want the feeling of the waltz.

Come away.

One, two, three.

[ Orchestra plays ] Thank you.

[ Imitates music ] Into the second note.

One, two, three.

My job is to come in with a very clear plan, with an idea about every single note, every single phrase.

So, I come with that.

But I'm flexible, because there might be better plans coming from them.

And I'm totally adaptable to changing them.

But what's not allowed is to come out without a plan.

I have to, as a leader, always propose a plan.

As a matter of fact, the way I think about this is -- [ Imitates music ] So, you're an upbeat of a two.

[ Imitates music ] Musician: Yeah.

One more thing, from the beginning.

I was not very happy with when we played -- [ Imitates music ] Yes.

[ Indistinct talking ] In the beginning, you mean?

Yeah.

[ Indistinct talking ] [ Speaking German ] [ Speaks Spanish ] [ Orchestra plays ] Yeah.

Sorry.

Now it sounds like -- [ Imitates music ] Like you really want to fall.

Parra: You really want to fall.

You're a ballerina.

[ Orchestra plays ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ That's it.

Very good.

Narrator: Lunch break.

But Alondra de la Parra doesn't have time to eat.

She's doing a radio interview.

[ Speaking indistinctly ] Presenter: Alondra de la Parra, you know already very early that you wanted to become a conductor.

What were the reasons for that?

I was a very curious child, and very excited and in love with music.

And I would go to concerts with my parents, and always just yearn for being on stage with the musicians, and being part of that magic.

♪♪ ♪♪ Narrator: Alondra de la Parra has been successful all over the world, but mainly outside her home country.

She is often invited to take part in festivals and give guest performances in Mexico, but so far, she's not enjoyed major success there.

♪♪ Kourchencko: She still have critics, or criticism in, Mexico, which is sad because, when you have a great talent, you have to use all the opportunities you have to keep it in your country, and keep it in your -- in your concert halls, and with your young musicians.

And -- And we have lost Alondra.

♪♪ Barros: First of all, she is a woman.

The second is, she is young and beautiful.

The third is, she is an entrepreneur in the artistic world, and she is an artist in the entrepreneurial world.

And finally, she did not follow what, in the Mexican musical world, is the normal procedure.

She did not study here.

She did not study with the old teachers at the National Conservatory.

And she went abroad.

So, I think all these elements... have not turned out in her favor so far.

But her talent is so great that it will overcome all of these elements.

♪♪ Parra: When I was starting, the fact that I'm a woman definitely was not something that people liked.

Nobody said it.

I have no proof to show you, exactly.

But I could feel how it was happening.

And for many years, I always, in interviews, when people would ask me, "As a woman, have you had any trouble?

Have you been facing difficulty?"

I would say, "Absolutely not.

It's been absolutely fine."

Because I so wanted to believe that.

I so wanted to believe that everything was fine, and I didn't want to pay any attention or bring any attention to the issue, or say it in front of a camera.

Or I didn't want the interviews to be about that.

And I still don't.

I really don't like the subject.

But it would be absolutely... untrue to say, "No, it hasn't been an issue."

Yes, of course it has.

Absolutely.

[ Speaking Spanish ] ♪♪ ♪♪ Narrator: With two children to look after, combining job and family is often a challenge.

[ Speaking Spanish ] Parra: The orchestras are expecting you to fly in there, and conduct for a week, and get out of there.

Yes.

Okay.

And then, you have music directorships.

You can be the music director at a place.

But all the rules, and the way it works, is absolutely not even close to considering that you may be a mother.

[ Speaking Spanish ] ♪♪ Manelick: What happened is -- is typical in her life, that she opens many fronts in the same time.

She has problems here, and she came up with another problem to resolve, and then another problem to resolve.

And then, in the end, she has 10 to resolve.

But... honestly, she can handle that.

And I am one of the pushed.

I said, "[Indistinct], Alondra?"

"What will you think [indistinct]?"

And then, [ imitates yelling ] "I have too many problems."

[ Stammers ] "I have two babies."

"I have to go to Australia."

So many fronts open.

But after she say that, she -- I know that she's going to come around.

That's for sure.

What drives her is passion.

She loves what she does, and she is willing to go places with it, and she's willing to fight whoever gets in her way, and she's willing to go as far and as deep as she -- as she can, regardless of any -- anything and everything.

She will get what she wants.

That's determination.

And I admire that about her.

[ Speaking Spanish ] [ Orchestral music plays ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ] Narrator: It's Saturday evening at the Queensland Performing Arts Center.

The musicians of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Alondra de la Parra have thrilled the Australian audience with symphonic music from Mexico.

[ Indistinct talking ] Hi.

How are you?

Man: That was fantastic.

Thank you very much.

Woman: It was wonderful.

Lovely to have some of your music.

Yes.

I'm glad.

The orchestra was amazing.

[ Indistinct talking ] He wants to meet with you.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

-So we'll just come.

-Okay.

Yes.

-Gracias.

-Thank you.

Thank you.

That was amazing.

I'm sorry.

That was so much fun.

That was just a lot of fun.

-Okay.

-Okay.

One, two, three.

[ Speaking Spanish ] Sorry.

Hi.

Thank you for bringing great joy to our city.

Oh, thank you.

-Wonderful.

-How sweet.

[ Indistinct conversations ] Narrator: The Queensland Symphony Orchestra is proud of its more than 70-year history.

But classical music faces intense competition for audiences, and the budgets are small.

The orchestra's management is seeking strategies for the future.

And here, too, Alondra De la Parra is setting the pace.

Parra: It is not enough to just come, and play great music, and go.

You need to be aware of who your audience is, and take care of it, and grow it.

The what is great.

Classical music and symphonic music is amazing.

It is that people don't know that it's for them.

The music, center.

Composer in residence, soloist, recording, [indistinct].

That's what we just spoke about.

New audience.

How do we reach new audiences?

Then, community engagement.

In the mornings, in the little studio, I'd love for us to have baby and mommy classes that are 30 minutes.

And it's -- you need one teaching artist, one teacher, and some instruments.

And it's fun And there's a huge market for that.

And so, we have the studio, It's empty.

And then, the point is, yes, it'll be great for the kids.

It'll be great for the mothers.

We'll make money, hopefully, from it.

But the biggest thing is audience-building.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ I just came back from Australia to Mexico.

I was there for two weeks, and I had a concert and a talk.

I got home, barely got over the jet lag, and then I came to Bremen and Hamburg for a week.

I'm leaving in a couple of days, back to Mexico.

Two or three weeks later, I'm back in Cologne, and then I'm back in Mexico.

And then, I go back to Australia.

And then, et cetera, et cetera.

Narrator: Alondra de la Parra is on the way to a concert in Hamburg, with the musicians of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.

It's the second time she's worked together with this top German ensemble, which is run by the musicians themselves.

Yeah, my son still loves the orchestra because he's so -- so young.

He thinks it's the coolest thing.

So, whenever I tell him, "You want to go to the playground or to the orchestra?"

"The orchestra."

-Really?

-Of course.

Wow.

He wants to watch on -- on DVD... [Indistinct] conducting.

And, you know, Kleiber, and stuff like that.

Really funny.

And he says, "Mama, Mama," when he sees the conductor.

Like, "No, that's not my Mama, but okay."

[ Laughter ] ♪♪ Narrator: Their destination is the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, perhaps the world's most spectacular concert hall.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Nice.

-Nice.

-Yeah.

-Nice weather.

Yeah.

[ Indistinct talking ] Parra: It's really -- It's really massive.

Wow.

I never expected it to be so big, and so high.

-Starts from there.

-Yeah.

And what's on there?

What's all this?

Office?

Narrator: It is a giant venue constructed on top of an old dockside warehouse.

The evening concert is sold out, like all the concerts since the Elbphilharmonie opened.

Parra: Wow.

Oh, I'm going to move here.

Wow.

I don't think I've ever had a dressing room this beautiful.

Look at it.

Now everybody's going to think that that's what my life is like, and it's not.

It's the most beautiful... dressing room I've ever had.

Wow.

-And view And view, and piano, and just everything.

Wow.

They're organized.

Okay.

It's like the future.

It feels like you're in another dimension.

Yes.

How does it sound?

-Good.

-Yeah?

-The piano's very beautiful.

The only thing -- -More basic.

-Yeah.

-Yes.

You know this already.

It keeps a little bit more ambition.

[ Speaking German ] Everything up -- up in dynamic.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Okay.

[ Speaking Spanish ] The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, they run the orchestra, and they commit to their music-making.

The level of preparation before the rehearsal is really high.

Everybody comes not only perfectly able to play every note, but also with a real concept, as if they were going to lead the rehearsals.

Everyone.

Every single person.

So...

When -- When you come in as a conductor, and you start shaping things up, you have, in front, you know, 30 collaborators who really have ideas, have insight into the music, and care so much.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Speaking German ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Parra: It's all for the audience, and for the experience between everyone who's involved.

People go to concerts to have a peaceful moment of introspection, or to think, or just to listen -- for different reasons.

But what is true is that they are silent, sitting, and listening to something that is so beautiful.

And when it's done with care, love, passion, it connects.

And hopefully, that makes them dream.

Of what, I don't know.

But it's nice to think that there's 2,000 people in one place, and... let's say half of them are having great dreams, or thinking about their lives, or what they want to do, or remembering someone, or some moment, through the music.

It's really nice.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ When I think of myself as a kid, having these dreams of being a professional musician, conducting, and then I find myself on stage, and the orchestras that I get to work with, I think of that girl, you know, I just want to cry, because it's so huge.

It just moves me so much that, if that girl got to see, or actually stand there, she wouldn't be able to handle it, because she would think "This is way more than I ever dreamt, way more than I ever thought I deserved," and would be completely disarmed.

That girl is still here, but somehow I've learned to handle it, you know?

So, it really does kind of break my heart to think that I never thought I could do it.

♪♪ ♪♪ Do I have the career I dreamt of?

No.

I haven't had the career that I want.

And I'm always dreaming of more.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ]