Young Venezuelan conductor studies at prestigious English opera

 

Ilyich Rivas, from San Cristobal in Venezuela, was awarded position of Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Peabody Institute Conducting Fellow allowing the young conductor to study under some of the world's leading conductors.  As part of the two-year fellowship, Ilyich is currently at Glyndebourne Opera in Sussex.  Ilyich, who has grown up between the US and Venezuela, also recently won the 2010 Julius Baer Prize (formerly the Prix d'Honneur) for his participation in the Verbier Festival Academy in Switzerland.

 

Ilyich has also been involved for a number of years with El Sistema, the celebrated Venezuelan music education programme for children from deprived areas, and has conducted the San Cristobal youth orchestra for the past four years.  The young conductor added: "there is a huge explosion of talent in Venezuela at the moment.  It has been a real honour to be involved with El Sistema.  All the professional orchestras I have visited recently have had at least one or two Venezuelans.  This makes me feel so happy and proud to be Venezuelan".

 

Next year Ilyich will finish his fellowship and has a number of exciting projects coming up.  He will make his début at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in October and at the Lucern Symphony, Switzerland's oldest symphony orchestra in January 2011.

 

 

Press Unit of the Venezuelan Embassy in London

Thursday, August 05, 2010