Venezuela’s Favorite “Dude” Heads to L.A.

Wondering what you’ll have to look forward after Obama’s inauguration comes and goes and all the parties are over?

Here’s something: the arrival of “the Dude.” That’s right, Venezuela’s master conductor Gustavo Dudamel comes to the U.S. to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic next season.

He’s in New York this month conducting Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, and after that, he’s off to California.

Check out the latest from The Economist.

UPDATE: Somehow we missed this article from the Guardian about “El Sistema,” the world-famous youth music education program on which Dudamel was weaned.

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Venezuela’s Dudamel Helps Celebrate Israel

Last Sunday and Monday, the Venezuelan conductor joined the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra to perform shows at Carnegie Hall commemorating the 60th anniversary of Israel.

According to this New York Times review, Dudamel achieved a “killer reading” of Tchaikovsky.

UPDATE: the Washington Post weighs in on the Carnegie Hall show, calling Dudamel “the wild child of music” and “better than the hype.”

For more about the state-run music eductaion program in Venezuela that inspired Dudamel and brought him to star status, see a new L.A. Times article.

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More Praise for ‘The Dude’ from Venezuela

Yesterday, the Washington Post reported on Gustavo Dudamel, the classical music conductor who — along with the state-funded music education “sistema” in Venezuela that he champions — is becoming muy famoso.

El Sistema takes children, often from circumstances of abject poverty, and teaches them to play instruments. According to most press reports, there are more than 250,000 children in El Sistema right now — its Web site cites 350,000 — playing in group classes and youth orchestras culminating in the Bolívar orchestra, which Dudamel will bring to Washington on April 6.

The Post credits Dudamel with “bringing a breath of fresh air to the familiar.” It also turns a critical eye to Dudamel’s family life, pressing him to explain why he refers to his musical endeavors as so many “wives.”

Does he extend this kind of morality to his real wife, the journalist and former dancer Eloísa Maturén? “No, no, no, no!” he said, laughing, and amended his description of the orchestras: “It’s polygamy, but in a beautiful way.”

So there you have it. ‘The Dude’ comes out on top again!

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Venezuelan Conductors Invade U.S. Classical Music Scene

Venezuela’s Gustavo Dudamel is on his way to becoming a household name. He is credited with reviving classical music, and will surely gain more attention when he assumes his post as conductor of the L.A. Philharmonic Orchestra in 2009.

It so happens that another Venezuelan conductor, Eduardo Marturet (pictured above), heads up the Miami Symphony Orchestra. Though Marturet honed his music skills abroad in Europe, he later returned to Venezuela and preceded Dudamel as director of Venezuela’s Youth Symphony Orchestra through 1995. More recently, in 2006, his “Encantamento” won a Latin Grammy for Best Classical Album.

The Miami Symphony Orchestra began its 20th season last Saturday. The first performance featured a star performer, the violinist Alexis Cardenas, who is a also Venezuelan. Watch him wow the crowd in the video below.

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Venezuelan Music Program ‘El Sistema’ on 60 Minutes

A youth music education program in Venezuela known as “El Sistema” (“the system”) was featured on CBS’s 60 Minutes yesterday. The program has taught hundreds of thousands of youngsters — starting at 2 years of age! — in poor areas of Venezuela to play classical music.

Watch the 60 Minutes broadcast.

The government-funded “Sistema” was started in 1975 by José Antonio Abreu. It has produced stars such as the maverick 27 year-old conductor Gustavo Dudamel (known to 60 Minutes viewers as “Gustavo the Great”). Dudamel made his mark conducting the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, and has been chosen to head the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra beginning in 2009.

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Look out, L.A.: There’s a New “Dude” in Town

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Venezuelan classical music conductor Gustavo Dudamel and his wife, Eloisa Maturen, are quickly becoming tinseltown’s new “it” couple. Dudamel was just in town for two weeks, and so in demand that he had to turn down interviews including top spots on late night television programs.

Apparently, Dudamel’s fame has prompted fans to call the Venezuelan musical maverick “the dude” or “El Dude.” The name seems well-deserved: last week’s show by Dudamel marked the first time that the L.A. Philharmonic played one of its “Casual Fridays” sessions at Walt Disney Hall to a sold out crowd. Read more here.

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