LOS ANGELES, Thursday, July 18, 2024 – The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association today announced the conductors who have been selected to participate in the orchestra’s prestigious Dudamel Fellowship Program for the 2024/25 season.

Music & Artistic 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.

“We are proud to welcome our 14th class of Dudamel Fellows to Los Angeles for a season of shared beauty, mentorship and transformation,” said Dudamel. “Watching these young conductors learn and grow with us, and then go out into the world with their expanded vision, is a source of endless joy for me. Through their talent and hard work, we are building a new future where the orchestra is both a source of profound artistry, as well as a force for social good.”

The Fellows will work alongside Dudamel and musicians of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as with visiting artists and conductors and will also work with students in key LA Phil education programs, during the LA Phil’s Hollywood Bowl 2024 season and 2024/25 season at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The Fellows will hone their skills through observation and application, such as conducting Los Angeles Philharmonic youth concerts at Walt Disney Concert Hall, participating as cover conductors, and serving as mentors themselves through participation in programs such as Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA).

The four conductors selected by Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil as 2024/25 Dudamel Fellows are Holly Hyun Choe, born in South Korea and raised in Los Angeles, and principal conductor of the chamber orchestra Ensemble Reflektor, Artiste Associé (Artist Associate) for L’Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, former assistant conductor of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich under Paavo Järvi, selected for the German Music Council's Grant Forum Dirigieren (2018), Solti Foundation Career Assistance Award recipient, Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship scholarship recipient, and participant in the Peter Eötvös Foundation Mentoring Programme; Dayner Tafur-Díaz, born in Peru, who won the German Conducting Award (October 2023), First Prize in the second edition of the International Opera Conducting Competition of the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège (Belgium, August 2022) and Second Prize in the conducting competition of the University of Almería (Spain, November 2022) and was selected as one of 20 finalists in the 2023 Mahler Competition; Luis Castillo-Briceño, born in Costa Rica, who is the Conducting Fellow of the London Philharmonic Orchestra for the 2023/24 season, an Equilibrium Young Artist mentored by Barbara Hannigan, and a designated winner in the Rotterdam International Conducting Competition 2025.; and Molly Turner, a Chinese-born conductor and composer from Tacoma, Washington, who is the Conducting Fellow with the New World Symphony and studied under the guidance of Esa-Pekka Salonen as a Salonen Fellow at the Colburn School’s Conservatory of Music. Please click here for more information about the Dudamel Fellows.

The LA Phil's Symphonies for Youth series performances featuring Dudamel Fellows will take place November 2 and 9, 2024, conducted by Luis Castillo-Briceño; March 15 and 22, 2025, conducted by Dayner Tafur-Díaz; and May 17 and 24, 2025, conducted by Holly Hyun Choe. The LA Phil’s Symphonies for Schools series performances, led by Dudamel Fellows, will take place March 25 and 26, 2025, conducted by Tafur-Díaz, and March 27 and 28, 2025, conducted by Molly Turner.

ABOUT THE LA PHIL

Under the leadership of Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, the LA Phil offers live performances, media initiatives and learning programs that inspire and strengthen communities in Los Angeles and beyond. The Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra is the foundation of the LA Phil’s offerings, which also include a multi-genre, multidisciplinary presenting program and such youth development programs as YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles). Performances are offered on three historic stages—Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and The Ford—as well as through a variety of media platforms. In all its endeavors, the LA Phil seeks to enrich the lives of individuals and communities through musical, artistic and learning experiences that resonate in our world today.