USA: Gustavo Dudamel welcomes the spotlight as one of the youngest music directors of a top-rated orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic

Record ID: 1530923

  • Title: USA: Gustavo Dudamel welcomes the spotlight as one of the youngest music directors of a top-rated orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic
  • Date: 23rd April 2010
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF REHEARSAL
  • Embargoed: 8th May 2010 16:17
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Music
  • Reuters ID: LVA7NNH12E0XHNT6H7IZBRKO9WEC
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel is a force to be reckoned with in the classical music scene since becoming music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the age of 28. He is about to embark on his first tour with the orchestra, and is presiding over his first festival as music director, "Americas and Americans," which spotlights music from North and South America.
    "Americas and Americans" will feature works from several composers, including Mexican Carlos Chavez, Argentine Esteban Benzecry, and Americans Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein, and is a celebration of the connectedness of peoples on the western hemisphere.
    "It's really important to see our culture, our connection, our soul, because the culture is the soul of the countries, so the chance to have all this music together in one festival is a dream coming true for me," says Gustavo Dudamel.
    With talent, charisma and trademark curly locks, Dudamel has taken the rarefied world of classical music by storm, drawing comparisons with conducting legends like Leonard Bernstein. In a city that is half Hispanic, the South American's arrival at the pinnacle of Los Angeles culture is a source of pride.
    He is the most famous product of "El Sistema," Venezuela's renowned network of music schools that has given instruments and instruction to hundreds of thousands of children. At 18, he was named director of Venezuela's national youth orchestra.
    Although he admits his career is on somewhat of a fast track, Dudamel doesn't dwell on it much.
    "You have to do the things that you are sure that you can do," says Dudamel, "and maybe that is why my life has been going in a very special speed, because many people think it is fast, everything, but for me it has been going really in the right way."
    Since the start of Dudamel's tenure he has become somewhat of a wunderkind in classical music, and his young age has helped to bring increased visibility to the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
    "It's not about Gustavo Dudamel, because it's not personal, for me, the orchestra is the important thing, and the music, you know, and this is the work of a group of people," says Dudamel. "I'm really happy that all this work is coming to me, all the people, the attention is amazing and I love it, but it's true, when you have the attention of people, things are going well."
    He is also very proud of the work he has done to replicate El Sistema in Los Angeles, creating YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles), an orchestra program for children from underprivileged areas.
    "It's a project that, instead of having just started, it's already changed lives, not just the lives of the children who play, but of the families of the children that are there in this orchestra," says Dudamel.
    Americas and AmericansMay 6, and the first North American tour for the Los Angeles Philharmonic will run May 10 through May 21.
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