The Orchestra of the Americas

MUSIC TRANSFORMING LIVES.  PLÁCIDO DOMINGO, ARTISTIC ADVISOR.  CARLOS MIGUEL PRIETO, MUSIC DIRECTOR.

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PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

Canada’s National Arts Centre (NAC) is a founding partner of OAcademy 2021. NAC’s far-reaching role extends from NAC Orchestra musician-led masterclasses to full orchestra repertoire rehearsals under the direction of Music Director Alexander Shelley. National Arts Centre Orchestra, under the direction of Shelley, is among Canada’s leading and cultural hubs, with a significant Music Education and Community Engagement department. Its scope of impact reaches families, youth, students, teachers, burgeoning musicians, and underserved and special needs communities through hundreds of activities, concerts, open rehearsals, workshops, masterclasses, side-by-side mentorship, scholarships, and more, taking place across Canada and internationally. Collectively, these programs reach close to one million individuals in person and online each year.

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FEATURED STUDIO

“I feel proud and privileged to be part of the OAcademy initiative, and to be able to contribute towards helping nurture and forge careers for such an incredibly talented group of rising talents from across the Western Hemisphere.”

Martin Schippers, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam

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MUSICAL MOMENT

Alef (Brazil) performs a Scherzo from Mendelssohn

Preparing Mendelssohn's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" flute solo for OAcademy Studio Session with Leone Buyse...and having fun 

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FELLOW SPOTLIGHT

Eleni Katz - Bassoon (USA), Yale School of Music

How has the OAcademy community influenced your participation?

At the start of the pandemic, I took part in several enriching and inspiring open masterclass experiences offered by OAcademy. I auditioned to take part in the OAcademy 2021 in order to continue to discover my voice as an orchestral player and seek mentorship from highly renowned global artists. OAcademy provides a space for me to perform regularly and create momentum to launch my career post-Covid.

How has it helped feeling a part of a community?

OAcademy has cultivated a virtual community of young aspiring artists. My favorite aspect of the OAcademy community has been the opportunity to collaborate with my peers in small groups. OAcademy fosters a safe space for musicians to learn, grow, and create meaningful experiences.

Follow Eleni’s journey as she takes over our Instagram next week @oamericas

#Oacademy2021

#Oamericas2021

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HAPPENING NOW

- In recent weeks 2021 Fellows have participated in 60+ hours of live training events led by a wide range of distinguished global artists. These include Carlos Miguel Prieto (National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico), Alexander Shelley (Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra), as well as principals from the MET Opera, City of Birmingham Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and more.

- OAcademy 2021 launched on 19 January. Through a rigorous audition process that involved thousands of candidates, 60 Fellows representing 19 nations from Haiti to Chile, from Honduras to Canada, were selected to take part. Embodying the diversity and talent of the Americas, more than 85% of OAcademy 2021 Fellows are musicians of color.

- The diversity of immersive training experiences ranges from studio classes, masterclasses, and full orchestra repertoire rehearsals to Fellow-led creative digital ensemble workshops and recording projects. Holistic leadership and service-themed classes have also been led by guest faculty from Harvard University, The World Bank Group, The Organization of American States, The Art Museum of the Americas, The Silk Road Ensemble, Mexico’s Sala Neza, and other institutions representing a wide range of disciplines.

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NEW PARTNERSHIP SERIES WITH FILARMONICA DE COLOMBIA

The Filarmonica Joven de Colombia, an initiative of Fundacion Bolivar Davivienda, and the Orchestra of the Americas are coming together to offer an innovative, high-quality experience for the young musicians of Colombia. This alliance under the #OAcademy platform will continue to empower dozens of young artists in their careers and allow them to transform into great musicians and important artistic leaders in their regions.

#OAmericas #LaJoven

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NEW ALBUM REWIEV IN GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE

"... a superb ensemble. There's some beautifully detailed playing, with ravishing strings in the Seguidillas and majestic flamenco turns at the start of the Miller's Farruca, while the brass are gleamingly assertive throughout."

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NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH BRASIL’S FILARMONICA DE MINAS GERAIS FESTIVAL

O.Academy is joining forces with Festival Academico Filarmonica of Orquestra Filarmonica de Minas Gerais in Brazil to create a week of cross-cultural learning and peer-to-peer experiences connecting 2020 O.Academy Fellows with classes and workshops led by highly respected Brazilian musicians, featuring The Orchestra of the Americas alumni.

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2020 O.Academy Fellows, alongside OA Alumni, join forces on 12 September to present a special concert within ASM Festival Panama's 2020 Digital Edition remembering Terence Ford - lifelong supporter of music & the arts in Panama and longtime board member of The Orchestra of the Americas Group.

The concert, entitled Roots of the New World, brings together living composers from across the Americas, including 2020 Composer in Residence Miguel del Aguila (Uruguay/USA) and Cristobal Maryan (Mexico), features OSM Prizewinners Bryan Cheng and Clara Wang, & other guests.

Hosted by Costa Rican pianist, Steinway Artist, composer & arranger Esteban Alvarez (The Global Leaders Program 2020), the program culminates with an intercontinental, intergenerational orchestra performing one of the Continent’s most emblematic anthems.

TUNE IN on Saturday, 12 September 8 pm Eastern Time. 

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THE ORCHESTRA OF AMERICAS NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH LOE

The OAcademy launches a partnership with the alumni-led Latin Orchestra of Europe

LOE musicians will be joining our academy as faculty featuring a recent masterclass with Marina Pierucci (flute, Brazil) and Kevin Guerra Rondon (cello, Venezuela).

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Fantastic reviews this weekend for de Falla recording by The Orchestra of the Americas with Carlos Miguel Prieto, Jorge Federico Osorio and Alejandra Gomez Ordaz.

THE OBSERVER: The playing gleams and crackles, with Nights in the Garden at once sensuous and darkly dramatic ... these brilliant young players give us hope for an orchestral future.

THE SCOTSMAN: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Orchestra of the Americas is a crack team ... Under musical director Carlos Miguel Prieto, Falla’s fiery rhythms and sensual colourings are intoxicating.

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Adding to the growing praise for The Orchestra of the Americas and Linn Records new album:

The Iberian sunshine certainly blazes brightly on this marvellously atmospheric second album from Prieto and his Mexican orchestra – everything really dances, textures are superbly balanced, and theres particularly fine work from the punchy brass and raucous woodwinds as well as the airy mezzo Alejandra Gomez Ordaz in El sombrero de tres picos.

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Reviews are in for our new album with Linn Records featuring the works of De Falla and Granados!

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ "... escape to sunny Spain ... The recording is deliciously clear, with each instrumental colour sparkling." THE TIMES 

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ "...a sound full of vitality ... that marries well with Falla's joyous and superbly expressive orchestral landscape." BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE 

ALBUM OF THE WEEK by Classics Unwrapped on BBC Radio Scotland

Get the album here!  https://lnk.to/DeFalla_OAAr

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Uno entre 6 mil: músico paraguayo grabó disco de la Orquesta de las Américas

El contrabajista José Guillermo Arévalos Vigo logró alzar la bandera de Paraguay entre 86 lugares para el proyecto discográfico internacional.

Integrante de la OA 2019 Guillermo Arévalos Vigo habla en este artículo sobre su experiencia en la orquesta y el proceso de grabación.

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Opera Has Vanished. So Have Their Dream Jobs at the Met.

The company’s orchestra offered prestige and job security. But the pandemic has upended hundreds of lives.

OA alumnus Hugo Valverde is featured in this powerful article by the New York Times 

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Congratulations to OA 2019 Conductor-in-Residence Elisa Vegas for being named Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Each year, the #WEF identifies the world’s most promising leaders under 40 - people driving innovation for positive change across civil society, arts, culture, government and business. Elisa Vegas, the only female Artistic Director of a professional orchestra in Venezuela, has been conducting a variety of orchestras in Latin America and Europe, while dedicated to improving lives through music in her country, including her pioneering work with the indigenous communities of Birongo, Choroní, and Kamarata.

“It has always been a dream to conduct The Orchestra of the Americas. The #OAmericas represents and expresses the musical soul of my continent.” - Elisa Vegas, #YGL20