Alexandra Arrieche
Marin Alsop ’ s philosophy is to “ pay it forward .” Three of her many protegees are doing just that .
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mentor
m a g i c
by Martha Thomas
“ The best mentors teach you much more than your craft , and that ’ s what I hope to share with my students as well . Yes , it ’ s very important to sharpen your skills on the podium , but it ’ s just as important to teach young conductors about how vital it is to share the power of music with as many people as possible . Bernstein taught me this when I was a student of his and it was something he lived by . I admired him greatly for that .” — Marin Alsop
Alexandra Arrieche
// From Brazil with Love
A young Alsop with her mentor , Leonard Bernstein .
In the summer of 2010 , Alexandra Arrieche went to every rehearsal of the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra ( OSESP ) that she could . It was her chance to practice the craft of conducting — if only in her head as she studied the musicians at work .
She knew that Marin Alsop would be coming from Baltimore to conduct in October , but Arrieche was scheduled to head up to New York to study with Maestro Harold Farberman at Bard College a month earlier . “ I was so frustrated ,” recalls the young conductor . “ She was the person I most wanted to see .”
So Arrieche wrote a letter to Alsop — “ in very bad English ,” she recalls — and left it , along with a DVD of her conducting , with the OSESP house manager . A week later , Farberman — who had also been Alsop ’ s teacher — told his fledgling student that Alsop had called him . “ She wanted to know if you were real ,” Arrieche remembers her teacher saying .
Soon , the two women did meet , and Arrieche says it was “ like a dream .” The OSESP was rehearsing Mahler ’ s Fifth Symphony , and under the Maestra ’ s baton , Arrieche says , “ it became Mahler ’ s orchestra . It was one of those moments where you think to yourself , ‘ I want to do that for the rest of my life ,’” says Arrieche .
Alsop became a mentor , encouraging the young conductor to apply for the Taki Concordia Conducting Fellowship , a program that Alsop founded to provide opportunities for women . Arrieche won the honor in 2011 , and in 2012 became the fourth BSO-Peabody conducting fellow .
Arrieche , now 30 , says that in the past five years she has learned more than just technique from Alsop . “ She also opens the experience of everything behind the scenes . For example : outreach , how to engage the community , how to touch people the way the music touches you .”
As a student in Brazil , Arrieche led family concerts for the Festival Villa Lobos and established conducting workshops for young conductors . She also conducted local youth orchestras . She is now artistic director of the Henderson Symphony Orchestra in Nevada , where she is creating opportunities for young musicians , such as the Young Artists Concert scheduled for March 2017 .
Chris Ocken ( Arrieche , conducting ); Paola Prado ( Arrieche , top of page ); Walter Scott ( Bernstein )
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