The Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra owes her international breakthrough to her rousing concerts and her commitment to music by Latin American composers. She is the official cultural ambassador of her homeland Mexico and to date has conducted over one hundred of the world’s most renowned orchestras, including the Orchestre de Paris, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphoniker and the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich. Between 2017 and 2019, Alondra de la Parra was also General Music Director of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, making her the first ever female chief conductor of an Australian orchestra.

She became known to a wide audience due to her many live concert broadcasts and appearances, in particular through the web and television editions of the Deutsche Welle’s ›Musica Maestra‹ in which Alondra de la Parra was not only a protagonist but also appeared as the reporter. In the 2019/20 season, the concert she conducted in the Frauenkirche with the Staatskapelle Dresden was broadcast on ZDF, as indeed was her celebrated return to the Orchestre de Paris, which was broadcast live on ARTE. Further highlights of the last season include a world premiere of the new production about Carlus Padrissa – T.H.A.M.O.S. – at the Salzburg Mozart Week, together with the Camerata Salzburg and the Catalan theatre group La Fura dels Baus, as well as her debut at the Easter Festival in Aix-ex-Provence.

This artist has enjoyed a close and regular working relationship with the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen for many years.

Beoga (gaelic for ›lively‹) are based in County Antrim, in the north of Ireland. The bedrock of their sound lies firmly within the Irish tradition. However, they are not afraid to incorporate other genres’ nuances into their music. From bluesy riffs to Astor Piazzola-style jazz, to a raunchy New Orleans jamboree vibe, their music always returns to a wonderfully bouncy Irish sound. The result is traditional, with a huge sense of fun and adventure and it all works – wonderfully well. The Wall Street Journal describes them as »the most exciting new traditional band to emerge from Ireland this century.« Irish Music Magazine writes, »Beoga are at the forefront of the new Irish wave.«

The band was drawn together in 2002 after jamming in a ferocious session at the All-Ireland Fleadh. Their unique sound featured the twin dueling accordions of Damian McKee and multi-instrumentalist Seán Óg Graham, pianist Liam Bradley and four times All-Ireland bodhrán champion Eamon Murray. In 2005, the lineup was complete, with the addition of Niamh Dunne, one of Ireland’s premier young talents, on vocals and fiddle.

By now they have released five CDs. The band earned recognition at the Live Ireland Music Awards and the German Music Awards. Their third album was shortlisted for a 2010 Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary World Music Album.

They have played at all the major Celtic and Folk festivals all over the world. In September 2007, Beoga performed live with the BBC Orchestra to a television audience of millions as part of the prestigious ›Last night of the Proms‹.