Conductor Sonia Marie de León de Vega, founder and music director of the Santa Cecilia Orchestra in East Los Angeles, “has enjoyed distinction as a pioneering Latina conductor,” writes Nestor Castiglione in Thursday’s (10/26) Eastsider L.A. “She begins Santa Cecilia’s 25th season this month…. Q: What led you to want to base the orchestra in Northeast Los Angeles? De León de Vega: When I was a teenager in Los Angeles, I never saw people my age or people of color at concerts…. What I wanted to do was make … a professional, high-quality orchestra for the community…. [The Santa Cecilia Orchestra] has provided free violin lessons to over 200 children a year.… We also have an adult musical education program called ‘Música del pueblo’ … for people who used to play instruments, maybe in high school or college, who put music to the side. Q: The Santa Cecilia Orchestra … performs much Latin American classical music. Why does this repertoire matter? De León de Vega: It was important for me as a Latina to include music by Latinos in our programs.… People also love it when we do Brahms and Beethoven. For a lot of them, this music is new and it’s a very powerful experience.”
Posted October 27, 2017
In photo: Sonia Marie de León de Vega, founder and music director of the Santa Cecilia Orchestra. Photo by Rodolfo Vega
