Sebrina María Alfonso made her New York debut conducting the American Symphony Orchestra at the finals of the Stokowski International Competition in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. She studied with Frederic Prausnitz at Johns Hopkins’ Peabody Conservatory and with Harold Farberman and Daniel Lewis at the Conducting Institute. Maestra Alfonso is the founder and music director of South Florida Symphony, who has established herself as a dynamic musical force, having performed with such world-class ensembles as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Jose Symphony, American Symphony Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony, Orchestra Rus de Sienna, the Women’s Philharmonic of San Francisco and the Sphinx Organization. She became the first female conductor of Cuban-American descent invited to lead Cuba’s premier orchestra, the National Orchestra of Cuba, on numerous occasions.
After impressive career successes with prominent organizations including Baltimore’s Goucher Symphony and the John Carrol Opera Company, in 1997 she returned to her roots in Key West, Florida – to bring orchestral music, with its associated educational and cultural benefits, to the southernmost island in the continental United States. South Florida Symphony Orchestra (SFSO) is recognized as a “Major Cultural Institution,” and is the largest symphony in South Florida.
“Producing works of the highest caliber that have an impact on the community has been my passion since the Symphony was conceived in Key West 24 years ago,” said Alfonso, “and it’s been extremely rewarding to watch us thrive.”
With her national reputation continuing to expand, Maestra Alfonso has been featured on WLRN, CBS radio news, CNN, the Associated Press, MS Magazine (New York), Deco Drive, and Miami News (ABC) and Reuters. She received the Unity Coalition Award in honor of her positive contributions to the LGBTQ community and was named one of the top 100 LGBTQ Movers and Shakers in Florida by Agenda Magazine.
In 2015, SFSO joined a consortium of top Symphonies to commission American composer, Michael Daugherty, to create Tales of Hemingway. The piece itself also won GRAMMY Awards for composer Michael Daugherty (best contemporary classical composition category & best classical compendium). Zuill Bailey, cello, performing Daugherty's Tales of Hemingway, also received a GRAMMY Award.
South Florida Symphony broke new ground with a commissioned work by the first female composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, Ellen Zwilich; her Concerto for Cello and Orchestra made its world premiere in March 2020.
Maestra Alfonso’s collaborations shatter expectations: her recent modern dance commission of the renowned Martha Graham Dance Company brought to life Legend of Bird Mountain by renowned composer, Tom Hormel. Her passionate streak ran wild with Manuel de Falla’s Amor Brujo, accompanied by sweeping theatrics of Siudy Garrido and her Siudy Flamenco Dance Theater, and most recently with the success of the groundbreaking production of Gershwin’s great American opera Porgy and Bess. In 2020, SFSO recorded works by Key West-based Composer-in-Residence John Gottsch: his Princess Yurievskaya and Sunset, dedicated to Maestra Alfonso. Both were distributed by the world’s leading classical music label, Naxos Records, in June 2021. In recognition of the impact of early exposure to classical music on her own life, she began the Symphony in the Schools program in 1997, which has served more than 100,000 under-resourced students to date.
A strong commitment to diversity is apparent in all aspects of her career. She intentionally features female composers, promotes diversity among the members of the orchestra, as well as within the structure of SFSO, and among the students served. She is married to SFSO CEO, Jacqueline Lorber; is devoted to animals and gardening; and has reignited her interest in making craft beer in her spare time.
Maestra Alfonso is committed to presenting the finest of symphonic performances and enriching the cultural experience of South Florida. Her absolute love of music and unwavering passion to grow, expand and discover, continues to elevate Alfonso and South Florida Symphony toward ever greater achievements of excellence.