Women changing code of conduct
Queensland Symphony Orchestra music director Alondra de la Parra farewells the QSO with a gala concert in Brisbane on Saturday.
As Queensland Symphony Orchestra music director Alondra de la Parra farewells the QSO with a gala concert in Brisbane on Saturday, she reflects that not enough has changed for women in the male-dominated profession.
Born in New York and raised in Mexico, de la Parra in 2017 became the first woman principal to head of one of Australia’s six state symphony orchestras.
In her three years with the QSO, says The Australian’s critic, Martin Buzacott, she has brought “Latino fire, joy and occasionally even a hint of danger” to her performances at the QPAC Concert Hall.
She is one of a growing number of women making careers on the conducting podium, led by the likes of Simone Young, who has broken the glass ceiling at conservative institutions such as the Vienna Philharmonic.
De la Parra says while opportunities for women may be opening, the world of concert music is resistant to change, and people still put preconceptions before “what we are actually seeing or hearing”.
“All musicians, and anybody in any profession, should be judged by our work, and solely by the quality of our work,” she said.
“Women, men, or any background or race — it’s irrelevant. You have to see the final product, and base everything on that.”
De la Parra is finishing in Brisbane as David Robertson concludes his term as chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Davis winds up with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra continues its hunt for a successor to Nicholas Carter.
While orchestras search for the right chemistry with potential chief conductors, the image of the archetypal maestro is undergoing a thorough renovation.
British author Norman Lebrecht said the traditional conductor — typically male, European and old — was an “emasculated breed”.
New markets for fresh produce ease trade uncertainty
Amid a year of trade uncertainty and a war between supermarkets and farmers, Australia’s fruit and vegetable exports have hit a record.
The trillion-dollar brake on rate cuts
The current level of federal spending is now running higher than the peak of the Covid pandemic which triggered record health spending and the introduction of JobKeeper.