The search for new ideas and contributors in classical music circles can span weeks, months or even years before their attention shifts to a single moment when an audience’s thunderous ovation determines that the search is over.
For many patrons of the Los Angeles classical music community, that moment came in September 2005 when Gustavo Dudamel made his U.S. debut at the Hollywood Bowl. Now, in 2009, he makes his first appearance as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Center stage in his twenties
Gustavo Dudamel has been called a “conducting virtuoso,”“mesmerizing,” “exhilarating” “charismatic,” “passionate.”He dazzles audiences with his constant boldness. At 28, the outlandishly brilliant maestro joins the ranks of many great conductors named as musical directors and/or principal conductors of major symphonies and orchestras before they reached the age of 30.
Leonard Bernstein was 26 when he stood on the rostrum and conducted the New York Philharmonic in place of an ill Bruno Walter. Simon Rattle was 26 years of age when he became the principal conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; Claudio Abbado was only 27 when he made his conducting debut at La Scala in his hometown of Milan in 1960.
However, Dudamel stands apart from these dignified conductors in that he remains the principal conductor of the Gothenburg (Sweden) Symphony Orchestra as well as the Musical Director of the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra in his native Venezuela while carrying out his duties as conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
The Maestro has guest conducted many high-profile opera companies, symphonies, and orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic and the prestigious Lucerne Festival, all before the age of 28!
Technology helps Dudamel reach a global audience
Moreover, Maestro Dudamel has the distinct advantage of having 21st century technology to help engage and reach a global audience which many other distinguished conductors did not have at their disposal during their inaugural seasons.
Dudamel's first live performance will be webcast from the Hollywood Bowl on the LA Phil website at http://www.laphil.com. Subsequent performances will be streamed live from a variety of websites, broadcast on national radio and televised on PBS' Great Performances in the USA and Europe.
To invite new listeners and retain his global audience, the LA Philharmonic Association launched a microsite to celebrate his arrival in Los Angeles. The Gustavo micro site includes Bravo Gustavo, an interactive online game that invites users to interact with Gustavo and the LA Philharmonic performing Berlioz’ Symphonie Fantastique. The iPhone application adapts the mobile device into a conducting baton, utilizing the accelerometer to directly affect the overall tempo and note duration of the music.
"These new media initiatives were developed to complement our efforts to make Gustavo and the LA Phil accessible to a global audience," commented Deborah Borda, President of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. "The microsite, the online game and app, the mobile sites and our website are designed to provide a fun and interactive experience for music lovers of all generations using the latest technologies available."
The 2009/2010 Inaugural Season
Maestro Gustavo Dudamel begins the 2009/2010 inaugural season with ¡Bienvenido Gustavo! A Target Free Community Concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA on October 3, 2009. This event celebrates his arrival to the City of Angels as well as documents his life journey from a child in Venezuela to Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The performance will be streamed live on KUSC.org.
The Inaugural Concert and Gala on October 8, 2009 will feature the World Premiere of John Adams' City Noir, a piece commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic specifically for the evening. LA Phil will broadcast Dudamel’s inaugural gala celebration at Walt Disney Concert Hall live on NPR.org and will broadcast the gala internationally on PBS television stations and issue the concert performance on DVD.
Educational endeavors
Born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela on January 26, 1981, Dudamel studied music from an early age, becoming involved with El Sistema, the famous Venezuelan musical education program, where he began playing the violin at age ten. He studied at the Jacinto Lara Conservatory with Jose Luis Jimenez and later with Jose Francisco del Castillo at the Latin American Academy of Violin. In 1996, Dudamel began his conducting studies with Rodolfo Saglimbeni and three years later he assumed duties as Music Director of the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra where he studied conducting with Jose Antonio Abreu, the orchestra’s founder.
Gustavo Dudamel was brought to international attention after winning the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in May 2004. Since then, the multiple-award winning conductor has earned several prestigious awards including an honorary doctorate from the Universidad Centro-Occidental Lisandro Alvardo in his hometown of Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Dudamel was recently named one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2009 by TIME magazine.
Source: LA Phil press release dated September 24, 2009; LA Phil press briefing September 30, 2009.
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