04/08/2023
Sandra is amazing and you should absolutely come support her!
Maestra Sandra Cepero Alvarez will be one of our conductors in the APSU Opera Theatre Spring 2023 production of Cendrillon by Pauline Viardot, sung in French with English dialogue. We hope to see you at our April 22 (7:30pm) and 23 (3pm) performances in Mabry Hall at APSU. The performances are free and open to the public.
Sandra Cepero Alvarez is a graduate conducting student originally from Cuba. She began her music studies at the age of seventh in piano and choral conducting. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in orchestral conducting from the University of Arts in Havana. She then won a scholarship to pursue postgraduate studies at the Conservatory of Music in Zaragoza, Spain. Maestra Alvarez has participated in masterclasses with notable conductors and teachers such as Benjamín Zander, Francesco Belli, Ronald Zollman, Valery Gergiev, and Lior Shambadal. She also participated n the Retreat at Medomak by invitation of Kenneth Kiesler twice.
In 2018, she was awarded the Alondra de la Parra y Montblanc Scholarship and in June 2020, she won the National Award in the Vienna World Music Competition for Conductors. She was a finalist in the International Competition for Conductors in Paraguay with the National Symphony. She won First Prize in the Musicalia Conducting Competition in Havana. In 2022-23, she served as a Conducting Fellow with the Georgia Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to extensive work in the United States, Mexico and her native Cuba, Sandra has also conducted in the Czech Republic, Spain, Germany, Uruguay, Argentina and Venezuela. Selected from numerous qualified candidates from around the world, she was selected for the 2023 Carlos Miguel Prieto Orchestral Conducting Fellowship at OAcademy. This summer, she has been invited to conduct the Tokyo Sinfonia Orchestra as well as assisting for the opera La Traviata of Verdi in Slovenia, which will be performed in both Slovenia and Croatia.
