Alondra de la Parra, born on 31 October 1980 in New York City, heads a new generation of conductors who actively engage with audiences and the communities. Her conducting technique is impressive, and her charisma and imagination give orchestra members the freedom to perform under her baton.
For de la Parra, the conductor is part of a beautiful cycle in which magical sounds are created and shared with the audience. As an official Cultural Ambassador of Mexico, she is also working to present works by Mexican composers worldwide.
Alondra de la Parra (© Oscar Turco)
To celebrate her birthday on 31 October, let’s feature her 2026 album Horizons: Live at Festival PAAX GNP, recorded live at the 2023 Festival PAAX GNP on Mexico’s Mayan Riviera.
Alondra de la Parra at the Festival PAAX GNP 2026 (excerpt)
Music Finds New Horizons
Festival PAAX GNP
The international classical music and performing arts festival PAAX GNP is held annually at Hotel Xcaret Arte in the Mexican Caribbean. Sponsored by one of Mexico’s largest and oldest insurance companies, the festival is Alondra de la Parra’s brainchild.
First organised in 2022, the festival features international soloists performing in the so-called “Impossible Orchestra,” the orchestra in residence. The musical programme comprises three series, including the “Main Series,” the “Darkside Series,” and the “Chamber Music” series.
It also includes ballet galas under the direction of Christopher Wheeldon, and an orchestral music education programme for children and young adults from the Yucatán, Campeche, and Quintana Roo regions.
Alondra de la Parra at the Festival PAAX GNP 2026:
Omar Massa: Concerto for Bandoneon and Orchestra (excerpt)
Music Becomes a Language of Peace
As de la Parra explains, “Paax means music in Maya, but also peace in Latin. The festival is music and movement, but music is also understood as peace between the human being, the world, society, and themselves. Music unites us with what is different; it makes us diverse, plural, better.”
The fifth edition of Festival PAAX GNP took place between 23 July and 2 August, with a programme combining major symphonic works, ballet, Latin American music and contemporary premieres.
Alondra de la Parra at the Festival PAAX GNP 2026: Leo Rondón: “Entreverao Llanero”
Three Concertos
For the 2026 album Horizons, which was recorded live in 2023, the Impossible Orchestra and de la Parra brought together three concertos by Paquito D’Rivera, Omar Massa, and Sérgio Assad, the latter co-written with Brazilian guitarist Yamandu Costa.
Horizons
These three concertos offer three very different ways of bringing Latin American musical traditions into the concert hall. Cuban-born Paquito D’Rivera wrote his concerto, “The Journey,” for three solo instruments, namely the cello, clarinet, and erhu.
It was commissioned for the US National Symphony Orchestra and premiered in September 2022, with Yo-Yo Ma, D’Rivera and Cathy Yang as soloists. The three movements have playful, food-related titles: “Beans,” “Rice,” and “The Journey.”
Alondra de la Parra at the Festival PAAX GNP 2026: Yamandu Costa and Sérgio Assad: Ilhas Concertantes (excerpt)
Connected by Music
Horizons: Omar Massa
The Argentine bandoneonist and composer Omar Massa composed a concerto that suggests a journey between Buenos Aires, the historic home of the tango, and Berlin, a major centre of contemporary musical life.
Brazilian guitarists and composers Yamandu Costa and Sérgio Assad collaborated on Ilhas Concertantes, a guitar concerto that imagines a collection of islands scattered across the world. However, these islands are all connected by a shared musical voyage.
The concerto takes listeners from northeastern Brazil to the Canary Islands and towards the Paraná River region of Argentina. According to the composers, this musical journey is still evolving, as this work is only the first chapter of a larger musical journey.
By inviting us to listen beyond familiar musical borders, Alondra de la Parra’s Horizons is opening up unexpected conversations between cultures and traditions. This idea lies at the heart of Festival PAAX GNP. The album is a fitting way to celebrate her birthday, because with open ears and hearts, new horizons are always waiting to be explored.
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