Tastemaker

Last night I accompanied my friend, Ms. Sara Lulo, a lawyer who does pro-bono work for The Philharmonic Orchestra of The Americas to a fundraising event. The POA was formed in order to highlight and promote the work of composers and performers of the American Continent and will be making its debut at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center on Thursday June 8th. What really makes this exciting however, is that the Orchestra is led by 25-year old Mexican conductor, Alondra de la Parra. I am truly in awe of this woman! She has presence and talent in spades and as I watched her work the room full of NYC's elite after the auction, I marvelled at how poised and confident she was at such a young age. As quoted in the Wall Street Journal, "...Ms De la Parra [is] elegant, assured, and lyrical." Not only is she musically gifted (her instrument of choice being the piano) and driven (she's not only the conductor but the founder as well), she's beautiful, intelligent, and a magnetic, gracious host. I stood next to the woman who made the winning bid (50K) to be the sponsor of the Conductor's Chair and Ms. de la Parra, accompanied by 2 other musicians, treated us to an up-beat bossa-nova-esque rhythm on the piano. The sound was electrifying and very modern and there was not a person in the rooom who wasn't bouncing in their seat. Trust me, this is not your grandmother's orchestra. The short pieces by select musicians prove that the POA is a richly textured, intricate blend of sounds drawing upon both its Latin roots and thorough classical training. Highly recommended.

log on to: www.poamericas.org for more information.