- Natalia Luis-Bassa
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Natalia Luis-Bassa 
Background information Birth name Natalia Rosalía Luis Bassa Born July 13, 1966
Caracas, Distrito Capital, VenezuelaGenres Classical Occupations Conductor Instruments Oboe Years active 1991-present Associated acts Orquesta Sinfonica de Falcon
Hallam SinfoniaWebsite http://www.luis-bassa.com Natalia Luis-Bassa ( July 13, 1966, Caracas, Venezuela) is a conductor who currently lives and works in England where she is Musical Director of the Haffner Orchestra in Lancaster and the Hallam Sinfonia in Sheffield.
Contents
Background
Luis-Bassa conducting the Haffner Orchestra in 2007
Since winning the second prize at the Maazel-Vilar Conductor's Competition in New York, she has worked both in the United Kingdom and abroad with orchestras including the Orquesta Sinfónica Venezuela, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Paragon Ensemble, Bombay Chamber Orchestra, Filamónica Nacional, and Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela and the National Children's Orchestra of Great Britain where she is now a conducting tutor.
She read music at the University Institute of Musical Studies (IUDEM), an institution that belongs to the Venezuelan musical system, being the first person to obtain a degree in Orchestral Conducting in her native country. She was appointed music director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Falcón and after some years she completed her studies at the Royal College of Music in London, holding the RCM Junior Fellowship in Opera Conducting for two years.
Natalia holds a Master's Degree from The University of Huddersfield where she is a part-time lecturer and has been appointed Elgar Ambassador.[1]
In August 2008 Luis-Bassa appeared in the reality TV talent show-themed television series, Maestro on BBC Two, as a mentor to David Soul.[2]
The Royal College of Music has appointed Natalia as a Professor of Conducting alongside Maestro Peter Stark..[3]
Personal life
Her father, Germinal, was born in Barcelona, Spain. As a child, during the Spanish Civil War, he had to escape from Barcelona and went to France, the United States, Argentina and finally Venezuela where he married Lillian, a Venezuelan whose parents were Spanish. Both of them are opera and zarzuela lovers. She grew up in a house full of music with her two sisters. Luis-Bassa now lives in West Yorkshire, the "Last of the Summer Wine" county.[4]
References
- ^ "Elgar Prize". Elgar Society. 2008-02-09. http://www.elgar.org/1news.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
- ^ "Eight passionate amateurs bid to become BBC Two's Maestro" (Press release). BBC. 2008-05-23. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2008/05_may/23/maestro.shtml. Retrieved 2008-05-24.
- ^ "Professor of Conducting". Royal College of Music. 2009. http://www.rcm.ac.uk/about/upbeat/Upbeat%20Autumn%202009.pdf. Retrieved 2011-10-18.
- ^ Germinal Luis, We Came Alone, Fundación Españoles en el Mundo, 2008, p.199.
External links
Preceded by
Roger CannMusic Director, Haffner Orchestra
2004–PresentSucceeded by
IncumbentPreceded by
Richard EllisMusic Director, Hallam Sinfonia
2007–PresentSucceeded by
IncumbentCategories:- 1966 births
- Living people
- Venezuelan musicians
- Venezuelan conductors (music)
- Venezuelan classical musicians
- People from Caracas
- Alumni of the Royal College of Music
- Women conductors (music)
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