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Dudamel Fellows 2011/12
During the Los Angeles Philharmonic's 2011/12 season, four conductors will participate in the Dudamel Fellowship Program. Music Director Gustavo Dudamel, together with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, created the Dudamel Fellowship Program in 2009 to provide a unique opportunity for promising young conductors from around the world to develop their craft and enrich their musical experience through personal mentorship and participation in the LA Phil's orchestral, education and community programs.
2011/12 Dudamel Fellows: Joshua Dos Santos, Mihaela Cesa-Goje, Courtney Lewis, Santtu-Matias Rouvali
The fellows will work alongside Dudamel and musicians of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and will also work with students in key LA Phil education programs. The program for each of the fellows will run separately for approximately 4-6 weeks each. The fellows will hone their skills through observation and application, such as conducting Los Angeles Philharmonic youth concerts at Walt Disney Concert Hall, conducting Los Angeles Philharmonic Neighborhood Concerts, participating as a cover conductor, and serving as mentors themselves through participation in LA Phil education programs such as Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA).
The Dudamel Fellowship Program was launched in conjunction with Gustavo Dudamel's 2009/10 inaugural season as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
2011/12 Dudamel Fellows
September 26 – October 9, 2011
February 20 – March 11, 2012
Joshua Dos Santos
Caracas, Venezuela
To Conduct:
March 3, 2012, at 11 a.m.
March 10, 2012, at 11 a.m.
Toyota Symphonies for Youth (TSFY) Subscription Series
Holst's The Planets
Known as one of the most experienced young conductors of the National System of Youth Orchestras of Venezuela, Joshua Dos Santos was born in Caracas in 1985, and took his first musical steps in the University of Carabobo's "Centro de Estudios Musicales Gustavo Celis Sauné," under the tutelage of Alba Pérez Matos, Marieva Laguna and Nieves de Acosta. In 1995 he was admitted to the Carabobo Music Conservatoire, where he studied violoncello and piano with Tiziana Vieira, Carmen Rosa Rodríguez and Marta Infante.
At age eleven, he was selected to be a member of the National Children's Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, with which he toured through Europe and Ibero América. He then moved back to Caracas and joined the Latin American Cello Academy under the tutelage of Maestro William Molina.
He began conducting at age 15, and is a conducting protégé of Maestro José Antonio Abreu. His work with countless youth and children's symphony orchestras across Venezuela continues, while also participating in conducting courses offered by FESNOJIV with Mario Benzecry, Sung Kwak, Eduardo Marturet and Gustavo Dudamel.
In 2001 he was appointed Musical Director of the Vargas Youth Orchestra, and the following year he returned to Valencia to conduct the newly formed Youth Symphony Orchestra of Carabobo, with which he performed for a number of social and educational programs. The ensemble went on to tour in France, where he gained accolades for his interpretation of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony.
He has received numerous awards, including in 2007 the "Young Person of the Year" from the People and Events section of the newspaper El Carabobeño. In 2008 he received the Municipal recognition of the Naguanagua Council, for his ample social work alongside the National System of Youth and Children Symphony Orchestras of Venezuela in the Province of Carabobo.
Joshua currently lives in Caracas and is a regular guest conductor with the country's principal symphony orchestras, including the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela.
October 10 – November 20, 2011
Mihaela Cesa-Goje
Satu Mare, Romania
To Conduct:
November 5, 2011, at 11 a.m.
November 12, 2011, at 11 a.m.
TSFY Subscription Series
Mendelssohn's Mystical Landscapes
Winner of the 2009 Taki Concordia Conducting Fellowship, Mihaela Cesa-Goje has been the recipient of several other conducting prizes and awards. The most recent is the 2010 Women Conductor Grant from the League of American Orchestras. Also, in 2003 she was awarded the Sandor Vegh Prize by the Romanian Mozart Society for an outstanding performance of Mozart's Der Schauspieldirektor at the Cluj National Opera, Romania. In 2005, she completed her Conducting Diploma at the Royal Academy of Music in London and was awarded the Irene Burcher Prize. In 2009, she was selected as one of the three young Romanian conductors to debut at the Romanian Athenaeum, the most important concert hall in Romania. Her conducting mentor is Maestra Marin Alsop; she also studied with Harold Farberman, Gustav Meier and Florentin Mihaescu.
Cesa-Goje is currently the Conductor of the Harmonia Cordis International Classical Guitar Festival. Mihaela has appeared as guest conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Florida Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, Hartford Symphony, Transylvania State Philharmonic, Sibiu Philharmonic, Dinu Lipatti Philharmonic, Oradea Philharmonic, and Targu Mures Philharmonic.
She is a champion of contemporary music and has been involved in the presentation of many world premieres by Romanian composers. In 2008, Mihaela was selected as one of seven young conductors from around the world to participate in the prestigious Cabrillo Festival Conductors Workshop in California. In April 2011 Mihaela was selected out of 160 candidates for a masterclass with Maestro Bernard Haitink with the Lucerne Festival String Orchestra.
January 2 – 8, 2012
March 12-18, 2012
May 7-27, 2012
Courtney Lewis
Belfast, Northern Ireland/Boston, Massachusetts
To Conduct:
March 16, 2012, at 8 p.m.
LA Phil Neighborhood Concert
Location TBD
Hailed by the Boston Phoenix as "…both an inspired conductor…and an inspired programmer," Courtney Lewis is quickly becoming recognized as one of today's top emerging talents. He is founder and music director of Boston's acclaimed Discovery Ensemble, a chamber orchestra with the mission of introducing inner-city school children to classical music while bringing new and unusual repertoire to established concert audiences. Lewis has also recently been promoted to associate conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra, where he regularly conducts Young People's concerts, outdoor concerts, and other performances.
In November 2008 Lewis made his major American orchestra debut with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, leading a series of five concerts. He subsequently spent several weeks assisting conductors David Robertson and Marc Albrecht. He has also worked with the BBC Philharmonic, Tulsa Symphony and Liverpool Mozart Orchestras, as well as smaller groups, including the Nash Ensemble and Alban Berg Ensemble. Recent engagements include a return to the Saint Louis Symphony and successful debuts with the Ulster Orchestra and the New Hampshire Music Festival. In summer 2011, he makes his debut at the Sewanee Music Festival and returns to the Ulster Orchestra for a series of BBC Radio 3 Invitation Concerts. Lewis also appears with the Ulster Orchestra in the fall of 2011 under the auspices of the newly formed Northern Ireland Opera as well as on the Ulster Orchestra's main subscription series in spring of 2012.
Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Lewis attended the University of Cambridge, where he studied composition with Robin Holloway and clarinet with Dame Thea King, graduating at the top of his year with starred first class honors. After completing a master's degree with a focus on the late music of György Ligeti, he attended the Royal Northern College of Music, where his teachers included Sir Mark Elder and Clark Rundell. He also completed a two-year tenure as a Zander Fellow with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, an intensive conducting apprenticeship under the ensemble's music director, Benjamin Zander.
March 19 – April 8, 2012
April 16-29, 2012
Santtu-Matias Rouvali
Helsinki, Finland
To Conduct:
TBD
Still only 25, the exciting young Finn Santtu-Matias Rouvali will become an Artistic Partner of the Tapiola Sinfonietta in September 2011. He has been assistant to Sakari Oramo at the Kokkola Opera Festival since 2009, when he conducted Sebastian Fagerlund's Döbeln to great critical acclaim. He returned in summer 2010 for Bizet's Carmen and will conduct Mozart's Die Zauberflöte in 2011.
He made his first strong impact after stepping in for a concert with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in September 2009, leading to immediate re-invitations including a concert as part of the Helsinki Festival with violinist Julian Rachlin. His first appearance outside Finland was with the Residentie Orkest for two concerts in September 2010. One performance was an open air concert in the Openluchttheater, Zuiderpark, the other a season preview. These eclectic programs included works by Britten, Bach, Adams, Brahms and Dvořák.
With his reputation already building quickly in Finland, recent engagements include appearances with the orchestras in Lahti and Tampere, and the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra. Over the next few seasons he will continue his relationship with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra as well as well as making returns to the Residentie Orkest for a number of projects including a German tour. Santtu-Matias will make his Danish and US debuts in the 2011/12 season with the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra and the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra. He will also make his UK debut with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and he appears with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra in May 2012.
Having completed his studies in percussion at the Sibelius Academy, Santtu-Matias Rouvali entered the conducting class of Leif Segerstam in 2007. He has also studied with Jorma Panula and Hannu Lintu.