The Orchestra of the Americas (OA) is a Latin Grammy Award winning symphony orchestra of musical leaders, ages 18 to 30, representing more than 25 countries of the Western Hemisphere.
The Orchestra of the Americas (OA) is a Latin Grammy Award winning symphony orchestra of musical leaders, ages 18 to 30, representing more than 25 countries of the Western Hemisphere.
The orchestra is guided by Artistic Advisor Plácido Domingo and Music Director Carlos Miguel Prieto.
The orchestra is an initiative of The Orchestra of the Americas Group. Other initiatives within the group include Global Leaders Institute, OAcademy Music Conservatory, Music In Action Journal, SoundPost Podcast, (Re)Setting The Stage conference series, and Lideres Emprendedores entrepreneurship prize.
The orchestra was founded in 2002 by VISIÓN Inc in partnership with the New England Conservatory. The Orchestra's creation was inspired by pioneering work of figures including Jorge Peña Hen (Chile), Ana Milena Muñoz Gómez (Colombia), Oscar Arias (Costa Rica), José Antonio Abreu (Venezuela), and others throughout the Americas, to give the platform of the symphony orchestra renewed purpose at the epicenter of social transformations in diverse, underprivileged communities. [1] The organization was established by founding chairman Hilda Ochoa-Brillembourg, vice-chairman Mark Churchill, vice-chairman José Antonio Abreu, and managing director Debra McKeon, in partnership with The David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University, the Organization of American States, and the Inter-American Development Bank. Early musical supporters include Yo-Yo Ma, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Plácido Domingo, Gustavo Dudamel, and Benjamin Zander, among others. Since its inaugural tour, The Orchestra of the Americas has performed over 400 concerts for audiences in 35+ countries throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The Orchestra has reached over 15 million people through television & radio broadcasts, recordings, print, and television - including three feature-length documentary films dedicated to the Orchestra. The Orchestra has released many critically acclaimed commercial recordings with Plácido Domingo, Gabriela Montero, Philip Glass, and others.
Carlos Miguel Prieto is music director and Plácido Domingo is Founding Artistic Advisor of The Orchestra of the Americas. Gustavo Dudamel was the Orchestra' Co-Principal Conductor from 2003 to 2010. Guest conductors have included Lorin Maazel, Valery Gergiev, Kent Nagano, Leonard Slatkin, Rafael Payare, Helmuth Rilling, Isaac Karabtchevsky, and José Serebrier, among others. Soloists include Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Sarah Chang, Vadim Repin, Julian Rachlin, Nelson Freire, Alisa Weilerstein, Louis Lortie, Ingrid Fliter, James Ehnes, Gabriela Montero, Paquito d'Rivera, Antonio Meneses, Matt Haimovitz, Ildar Abdrazakov, Mariachi Vargas, Danilo Perez, Horacio Lavandera, Ilya Gringolts, Philippe Quint, Edmundo T. Ramírez, Alex Klein, among others. The Orchestra's instrumental coaching faculty includes members of the world's top orchestras, among them principals of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony, Boston Symphony, Rome Opera, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, as well as academic music institutions of high repute including The Juilliard School, The Curtis Institute of Music, The Colburn School, and Shepherd School of Music. Head of Faculty since 2006 has been German violinist Leon Spierer who led the Berlin Philharmonic as Concertmaster from 1963 to 1993 under Herbert von Karajan. Composers-in-Residence to work with the Orchestra include John Estacio (2009), Philip Glass (2010 & 2011), Juan Orrego-Salas (2012), Tan Dun (2013), Arturo Marquez (2014), Nicolas Gilbert (2015), Arvo Pärt (2016), Jüri Reinvere (2016), Gabriela Montero (2017), Juan Jose Chuquisengo (2017), Krzysztof Penderecki (2018), Myroslav Skoryk (2018), and Gabriela Ortiz (2019), among others.
Annually up to 6000 musicians across the Western Hemisphere enter the process of auditioning for one of 80 seats in the Orchestra, ranking it among the most competitive orchestra academies in the world. All accepted participants join the Orchestra for a period of one year on full scholarship, which includes an annual international residency and tour. Alumni occupy posts in major international orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, Pacific Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, OSESP, Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico, Charlotte Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Portland Symphony, Boston Philharmonic, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, New World Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Paris Opera, Seoul Philharmonic, Chicago Civic Orchestra, Orchestra London, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and others. Many alumni have also founded musical institutions in their home regions that focus on social transformation and community development.
The Global Leaders Institute was launched in 2013 as an affiliate of The Orchestra of the Americas Group. Curated by nine higher education institutions, including Harvard University, McGill University, New York University, Stanford University, Georgetown University, Bard College, and Duke University, The Global Leaders Institute offers an annual Executive MBA in Arts Innovation. The GLI combines on-site training in diverse international settings with remote classroom learning led by a faculty of pioneers in diverse fields, including Thomas Südhof, winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology, together with a range of Grammy Winning Artists, TED Presenters, leading academics and cutting-edge practitioners. GLP Cohort Members are prepared simultaneously to act as social entrepreneurs, advocates, pedagogs, performers, managers, civic leaders, and cultural agents.
OAcademy Music Conservatory was launched in 2020 as an affiliate of The Orchestra of the Americas Group. Member of the European Association of Conservatories and curated by a range of high-profile partners, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Curtis Institute of Music, Harvard University DRCLAS, OAcademy offers annual Artist Diploma tracks in orchestral performance, conducting, piano, and composing. Leading faculty include Yo-Yo Ma, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Gabriela Ortiz, and Gabriela Montero.
Other affiliates launched within The Orchestra of the Americas Group include Music In Action Journal, Lideres Emprendedores, (Re)Setting The Stage conference series, and SoundPost Podcast, among others.
The Orchestra has helped to launch a range of national music institutions across the Americas, including Mexico's Sinfónica Azteca, Filarmonica Joven de Colombia, the National Youth Orchestra of the Dominican Republic, The National Youth Orchestra of Jamaica, and nationwide orchestral initiatives in Belize, Haiti, and Honduras.
The Orchestra is the recipient of a Latin Grammy Award (2015) for "Best Classical Album" (Gabriela Montero/Orchestra of the Americas/Carlos Miguel Prieto: Ex-Patria), and the League of American Orchestras "Golden Baton Award" (2012).
|
|
|
|
The Orchestra of the Americas is registered as an organization in the United States, Costa Rica, Canada, Brazil, and Venezuela. The head office is a 501(c)(3) located in Washington, DC. The organization's operating budget is $3 million USD.
Carlos Luis Bonifacio Kleiber was an Austrian conductor who is widely regarded as among the greatest conductors of all time.
Several styles of the traditional music of Venezuela, such as salsa and merengue, are common to its Caribbean neighbors. Perhaps the most typical Venezuelan music is joropo, a rural form which originated in the llanos, or plains.
Eugen Jochum (German: [ˈɔʏ̯ɡeːn ˈjɔxʊm] 1 November 1902 – 26 March 1987 was a German conductor, best known for his interpretations of the music of Anton Bruckner, Carl Orff, and Johannes Brahms, among others.
Sarah Chang is a Korean American classical violinist. Recognized as a child prodigy, she first played as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1989. She enrolled at Juilliard School to study music, graduated in 1999, and continued university studies. Especially during the 1990s and early to mid-2000s, Chang had major roles as a soloist with many of the world's major orchestras.
David Frost is an American classical record producer and pianist. He has won 22 Grammy Awards for his work including seven wins for Producer of the Year, Classical. He is a music producer for the Metropolitan Opera and has recorded major orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Carlos Prieto was born in Mexico City and is a Mexican cellist and writer. He has received enthusiastic public acclaim and won excellent reviews for his performances throughout the United States, Europe, Russia and the former Soviet Union, Asia, and Latin America. The New York Times review of his Carnegie Hall debut raved, "Prieto knows no technical limitations and his musical instincts are impeccable."
Christian Badea is a Romanian-American opera and symphonic conductor.
Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist. He is currently music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Paris Opera. He is scheduled to become music director of the New York Philharmonic in 2026.
Grzegorz Nowak is a Polish conductor. He has served as music director of the Polish National Opera, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the SWR Radio Orchestra in Kaiserslautern, Germany), and Sinfonia Helvetica and festival Musique and Amitié in Switzerland. He is the Principal Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London.
The Ottawa Symphony Orchestra (OSO) is a full size orchestra in Ottawa, Canada, including professional, student and amateur musicians. With around 100 musicians, the OSO is Ottawa's largest orchestra, which allows it to perform large symphonic repertoire of the 19th and 20th centuries, including works by Canadian composers.
Roberto Abbado is an Italian opera and symphonic music conductor. Currently he is Artistic Partner of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. In 2015 he has been appointed music director of Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain. From 2018 he's Music Director of the Festival Verdi in Parma. Previously he held the position of Chief Conductor of Münchner Rundfunkorchester.
Gabriela Lena Frank is an American pianist and composer of contemporary classical music.
El Sistema is a publicly financed, voluntary sector, music-education program, founded in Venezuela in 1975 by Venezuelan educator, musician, and activist José Antonio Abreu. It later adopted the motto "Music for Social Change." El Sistema-inspired programs provide what the International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies describes as "free classical music education that promotes human opportunity and development for impoverished children." El Sistema has inspired similar programmes in more than 60 other countries. By 2015, according to official figures, El Sistema included more than 400 music centers and 700,000 young musicians. The original program in Venezuela involves four after-school hours of musical training and rehearsal each week, plus additional work on the weekends.
Armen Movsessian is a violin player.
The Conservatorio Nacional de Música is a music conservatory located in the Polanco neighborhood of Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico.
Carlos Miguel Prieto is a Mexican conductor. He is music director of the Orquesta Sinfonica de Mineria and The Orchestra of the Americas in Washington, D.C..
Joseph Gramley is an American multi-percussionist, teacher and composer, and a founding member of the Silk Road Ensemble. As a solo performer he each year commissions and premieres new works from such emerging composers as Kojiro Umezaki and Justin Messina. His first solo recording, American Deconstruction, featuring performances of five milestone works in multi-percussion's modern repertoire, appeared in 2000 and was reissued in 2006. His second CD, Global Percussion, was released in 2005.
Josep Caballé Domenech is a Spanish conductor. He has recently been appointed Principal Conductor of the Moritzburg Festival Germany) and he is also in his eighth season as Music Director of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic(USA). Besides, former General Music Director of the Staatskapelle Halle (Germany) from 2013 to 2018, Music Director of the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra (Colombia) during 2018 as well as principal guest conductor of the Norrköping Symphony (Sweden) from 2005 to 2007. "Protégé" of Sir Colin Davis in the inaugural cycle of Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. Caballé Domenech enjoys combining his conducting career with a great symphonic and operatic repertoire.
Jesús Castro-Balbi is an internationally recognized cellist, pedagogue, higher education and community leader. As of July 2022, Dr. Castro-Balbi assumed the position of Interim Associate Dean at Kennesaw State University Journey Honors College.
Julianna Di Giacomo is an American operatic soprano who has had an active international singing career since 1999. She has performed leading roles with several major opera houses, including La Scala in Milan, the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, the Opéra-Comique in Paris, and the Teatro Real in Madrid. On the concert stage she has appeared with several notable orchestras, including the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Opera Orchestra of New York, and the Vienna Philharmonic.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
