Odaline de la Martinez

Odaline de la Martinez (born October 31, 1949 in Matanzas , Cuba ) is a Cuban - American composer and conductor . She has lived in London since she was a student .

Professional background

At the age of twelve, Odaline de la Martinez left her native Cuba during the Cuban Revolution . From 1968 to 1972 she studied music and mathematics at Tulane University in New Orleans , Louisiana , where her first degree was a Bachelor of Fine Arts with summa cum laude . She continued her studies in piano and music at the Royal Academy of Music in London and passed her Masters in Music in 1977 in Surrey , UK . In 1980 she received her PhD in computer music .

Professional activities

Conductors

She was the first woman to conduct the BBC Promenade Series Concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1984 and has since been invited there regularly as a conductor. In 1996 she performed the opera I Have Seen Someone by the Icelandic composer Karólína Eiriksdottir at Riverside Studios in London as a contribution to the Nordic Season as a conductor together with Lontano .

Guest Conductor

Numerous guest conductors with orchestras in Europe, North and South America, Africa, New Zealand and Australia made Odaline de la Martinez internationally known. She has conducted the BBC Concert Orchestra , the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra , San Diego Symphony Orchestra , Australian Youth Orchestra , Natal Philharmonic , Aarhus Symphony Orchestra , Canberra Symphony Orchestra , Sinfónica del Valle , the Brazilian Radio and Television Orchestra and the Vancouver Chamber Orchestra .

In 1998 she was principal guest conductor of the Camerata of the Americas in Mexico City .

Festival directors

In 1988 she directed a festival in London where operas by emigrants were performed in concerts . She conducted Betrice Cenci , the opera by composer Berthold Goldschmidt, who fled Germany in 1933 .

In 1994 Odaline de la Martinez was Artistic Director of the Cardiff Festival . There she conducted the opera Downpath by the English composer Nicola LeFanu .

Teaching activities

Odaline de la Martinez has lectured on 20th Century Music at the Royal Academy of Music in London and was Conducting Tutor with The Amadeus Chorus and Orchestra in Manchester .

Founding activity

Odaline de la Martinez enriched musical life in a special way through several foundings:

• In 1976 she founded a chamber music ensemble for new music with the New Zealand flautist Ingrid Culliford Lontano and took over its direction. The collaboration with the ensemble resulted in numerous opera and music theater productions, workshops, concerts and tours in Europe, the USA, Canada, Central and South America as well as radio and television recordings. Electronic works by Ronald Perera , John Duesenberry , Simon Emerson , George Crumb and Kaija Saariaho were performed.
• The London Chamber Symphony followed in 1982 .
• In 1990 she co-founded the European Women's Orchestra at The Chard Festival .
• In 1992 she founded the Lorelt label . This focuses on music that is neglected by many producers, namely compositions from the present or from Latin America and works by female composers.
• In 2006 the London Festival of American Music was founded . This festival, which has been held every two years since then, aims to present a wider range of the best contemporary composers in the United States to the UK audience . Several premieres were celebrated at this festival, including works by John Harbison , Marjorie Merryman , Daniel Asia , Peter Child and Roberto Sierra .

Professional focus

Odaline de la Martinez has an extensive orchestral and music theater repertoire from the beginnings of symphonic music to modern times . She also has extensive experience in the field of contemporary music . Her unusually large number of sound recordings for various labels focus primarily on the works of British composers. Odaline de la Martinez is committed to the performance of works by women composers from all centuries.

In music education and youth work, she can refer to a wide range of practice. Odaline de la Martinez and her Ensemble Lontano have been involved in musical education with The Mornington Trust since 2000 . Among other things, projects were carried out in the London district of Waltham Forest and other districts with young people, Sinti and Roma .

Awards (selection)

• 1984 Artijus Prize for her contribution to Hungarian music
• 1988 Villa-Lobos Medal from the Brazilian Government

Compositions

• 1984 Opera Sister Aimée: An American Legend , world premiere in New Orleans , further performances at the Royal College of Music , London (1987) and Marin County College (1995)
• 1999 The Hansen Variations for Piano
• 2005 to 2008: Opera Imoinda . First part of the slave trilogy, which deals with slavery and the beginnings of Afro-Caribbean culture. Joan Anim-Addo wrote the first libretto for the opera that was written by an Afro-Caribbean woman.
• 2012 The Crossing . Second part of the slave trilogy, based on Oroonoko , the first English-language novel, written by the writer Aphra Behn . This libretto is also by Joan Anim-Addo. The opera celebrated its world premiere on April 15, 2013 at a performance at Tulane University, New Orleans , where Odaline de la Martinez had studied.

Discography (selection)

• Judith Weir: Three Operas - The Consolations of Scholarship , Lontano (Novello Records NVLCD 109)
• British Women Composers: Vol. 1 , Lontano (Lorelt LNT 101)
• Eleanor Alberga: British Women Composers: Vol. 2 , Lontano Records, 1992
• Poul Ruders: Dramaphonia , Lontano (Da Capo DCCD 9308)
• Ethel Smyth : The Wreckers , BBC Philharmonic / Huddersfield, Choral Society / Soloists (Conifer Classics CDCF 2501)
• Ethel Smyth : Orchestral Music , BBC Philharmonic / Soloists (Chandos CHAN 9449)
• John Metcalf: Dance from Kafka's Chimp , Lontano (Lorelt LNT 111)

reception

In 2014, the Yale Club of London named Odaline de la Martinez "one of the most dynamic and talented musicians in Great Britain".

Web links

• Biography on www.dirigentinnen.de
• Archive woman and music
• Lontano website
• Lorelt's website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Lontano - the future in music. In: lorelt.co.uk. Retrieved July 20, 2017 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Elke Mascha Blankenburg: Female conductors in the 20th century. Portraits from Marin Alsop to Simone Young. Hamburg European Publishing House, 2003, ISBN 3-434-50536-9 , p. 256.
3. ^ Classical Nordic Music Lontano Riverside Studios Nash Ensemble SBC ,. In: independent.co.uk. March 18, 1996. Retrieved July 21, 2017 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g female} conductors. In: dirigentinnen.de. Retrieved July 11, 2017 . 
5. ↑ Lontano to perform BU compositions at concert Thursday. In: pressconnects.com. March 17, 2015, accessed July 20, 2017 . 
6. ↑ Rosie Pentreath: 19 of today's top women conductors. Can you name the best female conductors working today? Retrieved July 20, 2017.
7. ^ The Mornington Trust. In: morningtontrust.org.uk. Retrieved July 20, 2017 (English). 
8. ↑ ivetteromero: The Crossing: Slavery Opera opens at the London Festival of American Music. In: repeatingislands.com. November 3, 2014, accessed July 21, 2017 . 
9. ↑ Newcomb College alumna and conductor Odaline de la Martinez to present "The Crossing" - Tulane news. In: news.tulane.edu. April 15, 2013, accessed July 21, 2017 . 
10. ^ Yale Club of London - The Fifth London Festival of American Music (YCL Extended Network). In: yale.org.uk. November 7, 2014, accessed July 21, 2017 .