Ravinia 2024 Issue 2

“From then, I have experienced the most rewarding moments as a musician, as an artist, and as a human being, which is the great part of being a conductor—how much you can connect with people. For me, that’s the happy part of the profession,” she said. After graduation, Altarriba decid- ed to pursue her conducting career in Spain—a difficult decision that meant leaving her native country and her family. “It’s never a decision that you make because you want to,” she said. “It’s maybe the country forcing you to do it, because there are no resources, because there is no future for you as a young musician there. The system doesn’t support you in the way it should, and the restrictions to go out are pretty severe. So, I was just trying to find a way to create a better future.” Three years later, at Alsop’s behest, she made the move to the United States to pursue her master’s degree in con- ducting, which she aims to finish this fall. “It has been a real challenge to work and at the same time study,” she said. Earlier this year, Altarriba applied a second time to the Taki Fellowship, which Alsop founded in 2002 as a means to provide coaching and other career support for emerging female conductors. Notable alumni include Karina Canellakis (2013), Chief Conduc- tor of the Netherlands Radio Philhar- monic Orchestra, and Mei-Ann Chen (2007), music director of the Chicago Sinfonietta. [Carolyn Kuan (2003) and Valentina Peleggi (2015) lead Chicago Symphony Orchestra programs at Ra- vinia on July 28 and August 2, and Kelly Corcoran (2007) leads a family concert on July 27.] This time, Altarriba was successful, receiving a 2024 Taki Alsop Conducting Award, which comes with a cash prize of $5,000 and provides two years of mentoring and other support. “What a change, because now I had the experience that I needed,” she said. “And being close to Marin Alsop is a life-changing experience, not only as a teacher, which is part of the fellow- ship, but more about mentoring, which means she is always there for you as a young conductor. Whatever you need as a young conductor, as a female, as a Latina, whatever support you need, she is going to be there for you.” Thirty-six conductors have won various honors and awards through the Taki program, and Altarriba said that successive honorees become part of a valuable sorority, a kind of safe space with each member supporting and guiding the others. “It’s like a family,” she said. “That’s something you need on your path as a conductor, because it used to be such a lonely career,” Altar- riba said, noting the time conductors spend by themselves studying scores and traveling. Chen first encountered Altarriba at a masterclass at Peabody and offered her a Freeman Fellowship with the Chicago Sinfonietta for 2023–24, a role in which the budding maestra essentially served as an assistant conductor and learned about the nuts and bolts of the profes- sion. She is also completing a one-year tenure as a Colton Conducting Fellow at the New Jersey Symphony, a program designed to support young conductors from under-represented populations. She has given pre-concert talks, led family concerts, and served as a backup in case a scheduled conductor cannot appear. Moving to the United States has not been easy for Altarriba. She has had to adapt to an unfamiliar language and culture, and she hasn’t seen her mother for three years (her father lives in Cancún, Mexico), because of the difficulties of travel to Cuba. “It’s pretty tough,” she said. On the other hand, she has been able to pursue the career she dreamed about since she was 18, and now with the National Seminario she has a chance to begin to fulfill her one of her goals to inspire and collaborate with young musicians. “I cannot wait to meet them and per- form music with them,” she said. “I know it’s going to be the best four days of the summer, because when you work with a youth orchestra, you are giving them ev- erything you have, but in a subconscious way you are receiving even more. You are receiving this freshness, this sense of the simple life—‘I do what I love.’ It’s great. I can’t be more excited.” Kyle MacMillan served as classical music critic for the Denver Post from 2000 through 2011. He currently freelances in Chicago, writing for such publications as the Chicago Sun-Times , Early Music America , Opera News , and Classical Voice of North America . In May, Altarriba had the opportunity to visit Ravinia early and work with a small ensemble of Sistema Ravinia students before the international group of Seminario students and National Orchestral Institute + Festival musicians arrive in July. RAVINIAMAGAZINE • JULY 1 – JULY 21, 2024 16 PATRICKGIPSON/RAVINIA PATRICKGIPSON/RAVINIA