Lina Gonzalez-Granados, Seattle Symphony’s conducting fellow for the 2019-20 season. Photo: James Holt/Seattle Symphony
“When Lina Gonzalez-Granados takes the podium for the ‘Wonder Women’ family concert Feb. 22, she will be the first Colombian woman … to conduct the Seattle Symphony,” writes Gemma Alexander in Thursday’s (2/20) Seattle Times. “Fewer than 15% of U.S. orchestral conductors are female, and fewer than 10% identify as Latino/Hispanic, according to a League of American Orchestras 2016 survey … As an early-career conductor, she is already known as an effective, community-building advocate for Latino musicians. As Seattle Symphony’s conducting fellow for the 2019-20 season, Gonzalez-Granados will spend several weeks with the orchestra, assisting the conductor and serving as the cover conductor … She’ll lead her own performances (such as the Feb. 28 ‘[untitled] 2’ concert) and participate in special projects like the Merriman Young Composers Workshop showcase.… Gonzalez-Granados [is] the founder of Unitas Ensemble, a chamber orchestra that specializes in works by Latin American composers. ‘I wanted to level the field artistically and create jobs for my friends who are Latinos,’ said Gonzalez-Granados…. The world premiere of Juan David Osorio’s ‘El Paraiso segun Maria’ will be performed as part of the Feb. 28 ‘[untitled] 2’ concert Gonzalez-Granados will co-lead with [assistant conductor Lee] Mills…. That concert will feature two world premieres and two U.S. premieres, all by Latin American composers.”
