al·ter·i·ty
the state of being other or different; otherness.
The Alterity Chamber Orchestra (Alterity.co) is the Orlando-based chamber orchestra building a more thoughtful, open, and diverse society through contemporary classical music. The seventeen-member ensemble focuses on performing the music of living composers. Praised in The New York Times, The Orlando Sentinel, and The Orlando Weekly, Alterity.co strives to make new music accessible to anyone, anywhere. Alterity.co is the ensemble in residence of the Timucua Arts Foundation.
The Team
Natalie Grata - Alterity.co Founder
Natalie Grata currently resides in Winter Park, Florida and regularly performs with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. Additionally she has performed locally with Opera Orlando, Orlando Ballet, and the Orlando Philharmonic Woodwind Quintet. She received her Bachelor's in Music Performance from Florida State University where she studied with Dr. Frank Kowalsky and Dr. Deborah Bish and her Master's in Music Performance from the University of Michigan where she studied with Dan Gilbert. She appears on recordings for both the University of Michigan Symphonic Band and Symphonic Orchestra, including a world premier recording of Ginaster's "Concierto Argentino". In the past she has performed with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, West Michigan Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, and Gulf Coast Symphony.
Beatriz Ramirez - alterity.co founder
Beatriz Ramirez is a freelance Oboist currently residing in Orlando, Florida. She is a Co-Founder of the Alterity Chamber orchestra and performs regularly in Belt & Ramirez - an oboe guitar duo, ensemble AMF, and various orchestra's around florida.
Beatriz received her BM in 2012 from UCF studying with Jamie Strefeler and received her MM from the Manhattan School of Music in 2015 where she studied with Stephen Taylor.
Christopher Belt - Artistic advisor
Chris Belt enjoys a a multi-faceted career as a performer, arts administrator, and educator. Based in Orlando, Florida, recent engagements include conducting the Alterity Chamber Orchestra in a performance of John Adams "Son of Chamber Symphony", a featured solo performance for the live taping of the nationally broadcast NPR program "Science Friday," and the premiere of an original new site-specific work for 60 guitarists that he composed and conducted.
In 2016, the Timucua Arts Foundation selected Chris to serve as the foundation's Executive Director. During his tenure the foundation has grown dramatically, received its first state and national grants, and was recommended in the New York Times "36 Hours In Orlando," (February, 2018).
As an educator, Chris teaches private classical guitar lessons and is on faculty at Valencia College where he teaches music theory.
Brandon Miller - Production Manager
Brandon Miller is a freelance bassist and composer born and raised in Orlando, Florida. He currently performs in the Brian Tarquin Trio, Ensemble Accidental Music Festival, St. Luke’s United Methodist Church’s Contemporary Band and the Orlando Shakespeare Theater (with Steve MacKinnon), and regularly records in the studio for Custom-Tracks.com. He has toured with Gainesville’s Flat Land and The Ringling Brothers Blue Unit. He plays both upright and electric basses.
![Rehearsals have been going swell. We hope to see you all tonight for our double Reed feature program, "Dark Wood". The concert is so bas-SOON! [Sorry, not sorry]
Thursday, May 23rd at the Timucua White House. Doors at 7 p.m., music at 7:30](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58c2d99df7e0ab73ba6d084b/1663251657640-K36ACTJX8ZYGDVYCNN6D/image-asset.jpeg)
