El Sistema's Dudamel to Conduct New York Philharmonic

This Monday, February 22, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra officially welcomed the internationally acclaimed Venezuelan conductor and violinist Gustavo Dudamel, who will make history as the first Latin American musician to lead the most prestigious philharmonic orchestra in the United States. According to the terms of the agreement, Dudamel will join the New York Philharmonic in 2026.

Deborah Borda, president of the institution, announced the hiring of the musician from Barquisimeto, current director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, musical director of the Paris Opera, and director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela.

In a press conference held at the David Geffen Hall of the Lincoln Center, Dudamel said that he would be fulfilling a dream he has had since he was nine years old, and reaffirmed his conception of music as an instrument of social transformation. “I believe that we have a mission as artists,” said Dudamel.

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“Part of my DNA is to work with young people, to take the orchestra to the communities. The only ones who can do it are us, the ones who understand the dimension of music,” said Dudamel, who was trained with that vision in the National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras and Choirs of Venezuela promoted by his teacher and mentor, the late José Antonio Abreu.

El Sistema has become a recognized institution that serves and provides opportunities to children and young people from the entire social strata. El Sistema is recognized worldwide as a beacon of quality and excellence.

It was only with the arrival of Hugo Chávez to Venezuela’s presidency that El Sistema achieved the international prestige that it currently has. With a great investments of public resources to strengthen cultural values, not just through classical music, but also incorporating local folklore, dance, and countless other Venezuelan cultural expressions, the administration of President Chávez, alongside Maestro Abreu, is recognized as the builders of El Sistema.

For Dudamel, a product of El Sistema, musicians must be “transforming agents of the community so that people feel that it is their identity. Education is part of our mission, freedom is in culture.” In this regard, Dudamel paraphrased the Spanish philosopher Miguel de Unamuno.

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Change of mentality
At one point, Dudamel thought about dedicating himself to salsa or baseball, since his father was a trombonist for a Salsa orchestra and he played baseball when he was a child, but he finally opted for classical music, hoping to change the mentality that classical music “is only for rich people.”

“Young people are afraid of classical, because it feels a bit like the old or vintage car,” Dudamel said. “The music is made in the moment. Even if Beethoven wrote a symphony in 1807, this music that we are playing is happening right now, so it is no longer music from that time, it’s music from this era.”

Dudamel referred to his arrival at the New York orchestra created in 1842 as “a wonderful journey.” He hopes to spark interest in classical music among young people: “to be a reference so that girls and boys and young people have certainty, on the path, that dreams can always be achieved. You have to work deeply, with a lot of discipline and a lot of love for what you do.”

Dudamel joins illustrious masters such as Gustav Mahler, Arturo Toscanini, or Leonard Berstein at the helm of the New York Philharmonic. Dudamel was musical director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra in 1999, conducted the Swedish Gothenburg Symphony from 2007-2012, and took over as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the 2009-10 season, from which he will step down in 2026.

(Alba Ciudad) with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

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