Kalena Bovell is an American conductor. As of 2020, Bovell, who has both

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

and

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

ancestry, was the only conductor in the United States of African-American and Hispanic descent. She is currently assistant conductor of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.

Biography

Bovell grew up in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

after her parents moved there from

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. She began singing at the age of nine and came to

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

when she joined a beginning strings class at age eleven. Being seven years self taught, her first private lesson occurred when she was 18. Bovell played the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

. She discovered her love of conducting as a sophomore at

Chapman University Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scie ...

which she graduated from in 2009. She attended graduate school at the Hartt School.

Work

Bovell has worked as the orchestra director at the Loomis Chaffee School and in 2015 staged the '' Swan Princess'', an adaptation of ''Swan Lake'' by Tchaikovsky. In 2017, the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' wrote that her skill at conducting '' Slavonic Dances'': Opus 46 No. 2 and Opus 72 No. 7 by

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...

was "brilliant". Bovell became the assistant conductor for the Memphis Symphony Orchestra in 2019. Bovell is the only African-American and Hispanic conductor in the United States.

References

External links

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Moody Minute with Kalena Bovella
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bovell, Kalena American conductors (music) Women conductors (music) African-American classical musicians People from Los Angeles American violinists Chapman University alumni University of Hartford Hartt School alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American people