About Gustavo
Barquisimeto, Venezuela
Barquisimeto, Venezuela
Gustavo Dudamel was born January 26, 1981, in the city of Barquisimeto, Venezuela, about 220 miles west of Caracas. He is the son of musicians; a trombonist and a voice teacher. “My father played in a salsa group," he remembers, “so I started to dance when I was really small — a baby. You know, learning to dance is part of our culture — dancing is in our blood... Latin music is all about dance, about rhythm. And we try to put this spice into all of our music.”
Photo credit: Frank Di Polo and Nohely Oliveros
El Sistema
El Sistema
Gustavo Dudamel's career was launched in El Sistema, the youth orchestra system widely praised for its social contributions to young people in Venezuela. El Sistema encompasses a music and social program for over 250,000 young Venezuelans who begin their musical instruction at three years of age. The program celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2005.
El Sistema served as the inspiration for Youth Orchestra Los Angeles, the LA Phil’s community program devoted to promoting youth development through exceptional instrumental and orchestral education.
Photo credit: Frank Di Polo and Nohely Oliveros
Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra
Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra
Gustavo Dudamel became the Music Director of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra in 1999, conducting approximately 90 performances per season. A product of Venezuela’s El Sistema youth orchestra system, the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra is made up of talented and dedicated youngsters from every corner of the country and has been since its inception in 1975. At present, it is the most consolidated group from the entire National System of Youth Orchestras in Venezuela, and its members include some of the most outstanding musicians in the country.
Onto the World Stage
Onto the World Stage
In May 2004, Gustavo Dudamel traveled to Germany for the first Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in Bamberg, where he received the first prize from a jury that included then Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen. Salonen alerted Philharmonic President Deborah Borda about this “conducting animal,” who was promptly booked for his U.S. debut at the Hollywood Bowl. Gustavo continued to develop as a conductor, working with three mentors, Simon Rattle, Daniel Barenboim, and Claudio Abbado (pictured).
Photo credit: Frank Di Polo and Nohely Oliveros
Recordings
Recordings
Gustavo Dudamel has been an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist since 2005. His debut recording, Beethoven Symphonies 5&7 with the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, was released worldwide in September 2006, and received the 2007 ECHO Award (Germany) for “New Artist of the Year.” His second recording with the SBYO, Mahler's Symphony No. 5, was chosen as the only classical album on iTunes’ “Next Big Thing.” Dudamel’s third album with the SBYO was FIESTA, featuring Latin-American works. In March 2009, DG released Dudamel’s most recent recording with the SBYO, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 and Francesca da Rimini. On the iTunes front, DG has released Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic’s Berlioz Symphonie fantastique and Bartók Concerto for Orchestra.
U.S. Debut
U.S. Debut
Following international attention garnered by triumphing in the inaugural Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in May 2004, Gustavo Dudamel made his U.S. debut leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl in September 2005 in performances of Silvestre Revueltas' La noche de los mayas and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5.
Photo credit: Mathew Imaging
International Stardom
International Stardom
Following his win at the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in 2004, Gustavo Dudamel quickly became a hot star on the international conducting circuit. In 2005, he debuted with the Israel Philharmonic, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, London’s Philharmonia, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In 2006, he made operatic debuts at La Scala and the Berlin Staatsoper, and orchestral debuts with the Dresden Staatskapelle and the Boston Symphony. He made his Chicago Symphony debut in April 2007, just days before his appointment as Music Director of the LA Phil was announced. (Pictured here with LA Phil President Deborah Borda)
Photo credit: Mathew Imaging
Music Director, Los Angeles Philharmonic
Music Director, Los Angeles Philharmonic
The LA Phil appointed then-26-year-old Gustavo Dudamel as Music Director in April 2007. Of the appointment Dudamel said, “Almost two years ago, I made my United States debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and from the first moment I stepped onto the stage, I felt a special connection and deep feeling from the players...Playing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in magnificent Walt Disney Concert Hall is a great privilege and I look forward to many happy years together.”
YOLA
YOLA
El Sistema, the Venezuelan music education system that nurtured Gustavo Dudamel, inspired the launch of the LA Phil’s Youth Orchestra Los Angeles initiative. YOLA’s goal is to provide access to exceptional instrumental and orchestral education in order to promote youth development. The Expo Youth Orchestra, a beginning-level ensemble comprised of students from more than 60 public, charter and private schools in South Los Angeles, is YOLA’s first major project.
Music Director of 3 Orchestras
Music Director of Three Orchestras
Gustavo Dudamel is the leader of major orchestras on three continents. He grew up in the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra in Venezuela, and became its Music Director in 1999, at the age of 18. In 2005 Dudamel conducted the Gothenburg Symphony at a BBC Proms concert on short notice, and a year later he was appointed Principal Conductor, beginning in 2007. In April 2007, Gustavo was named the 11th Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (pictured), succeeding Esa-Pekka Salonen in October 2009.
Photo credit: Mathew Imaging
LA Phil Inaugural Season
LA Phil Inaugural Season
In January 2009, Gustavo Dudamel and Los Angeles Philharmonic President Deborah Borda announced Dudamel’s inaugural season with the LA Phil. With an unprecedented number of commissions and premieres, and two major multidisciplinary festivals, the 2009/10 season is a vibrant celebration of the LA Phil’s tradition of innovation and community involvement. “First, this is a beautiful challenge, and second, it’s a wonderful opportunity to make great music with my new LA Phil family,” Dudamel says. “The most important thing is to enjoy our time together.”
Photo credit: Mathew Imaging