Alondra de la Parra, Mexican Conductor, Makes History As First Female Musical Director Of Queensland Symphony Orchestra

Female conductors are still rare in the orchestra world but fortunately for Alondra de la Parra, maestras such as Simone Young (first woman to conduct the Vienna State Opera in 1993) and Nicolette Fraillon (music director of the Australian Ballet since 2003) have opened the way for the 35-year-old to make history as the first female chief conductor and musical director of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.

"It's something very exciting because I have been preparing and working all my life, to be director of a fine institution," she told NBC news during a phone interview from her home in Mexico City. "It's definitely a dream come true."

According to The Australian, the newly created role of music director will combine the functions of chief conductor, artistic director and community arts leader, signaling her level of future involvement in the state’s music-making.

During her interview with NBC, De la Parra mentioned she is proud to be able to be a role model for little girls with the same aspirations. However, she confessed that when she stands on the podium and takes the baton in her hands, she is just another musician communicating with other musicians, she feels genderless and cultureless.

“We bring to the podium everything that on is,” she said. “One can only be who one is and nothing else, it’s the experience of your life that you share with others. I am a woman, I am Mexican but that is just part of the many ingredients that make me who I am. It’s more three dimensional than particular labels.”

Good news didn’t stop there for Alondra, last month she welcomed her first-born Luciano, and shared the cutest photo of them on Instagram: “Welcome Luciano de luz to this world, I will never let go of your hand. I’m a mom,” she wrote next to the adorable photo, in which she is holding her baby boy’s hand.

Maestra De la Parra will not take up the QSO appointment until 2017, but is scheduled to open the orchestra’s 2016 season with a piece that is a personal inspiration to her, Mahler’s Symphony No 2.