Gustavo Dudamel

Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez (born January 26, 1981) is a Venezuelan conductor. At age 27, he is presently the principal conductor of Sweden's Gothenburg Symphony, and in September of 2009 he will become the new Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has been described by the New York Times as "one of the hottest — and youngest — conducting properties around."
Dudamel was born in Barquisimeto in the state of Lara. He studied music from an early age, becoming involved with El Sistema, the famous Venezuelan musical education program, and took up the violin at age ten. He soon began to study composition. He attended the Jacinto Lara Conservatory, where he was taught the violin by José Luis Jiménez. He then went on to work with José Francisco del Castillo at the Latin-American Violin Academy.
He began to study conducting in 1995, first with Rodolfo Saglimbeni, then later with José Antonio Abreu. In 1999, he was appointed music director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, the national youth orchestra of Venezuela, and toured several countries.
Dudamel began to win a number of conducting competitions, including the Gustav Mahler Conducting Prize in Germany in 2004. His reputation began to spread, and he was noticed by conductors such as Simon Rattle and Claudio Abbado, who accepted invitations to conduct the Simón Bolívar Orchestra in Venezuela.
Dudamel debuted with the Philharmonia, the Israel Philharmonic, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, among others, in 2005, and also signed a recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. In 2006, his additional guest conducting appearances included concerts with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. He made his debut at La Scala, Milan, with Don Giovanni in November 2006. On September 10, 2007, he conducted the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for the first time at the Lucerne Festival. In March 2008, he made his debut with the San Francisco Symphony.
In 2005, Dudamel first conducted the Gothenburg Symphony at the BBC Proms, on short notice as a replacement for the indisposed Neeme Järvi. In 2006, Dudamel was named Principal Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony as of 2007. He will retain his position with the Simón Bolívar National Youth Orchestra.
Dudamel made his U.S. conducting debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic (LAP) at the Hollywood Bowl on September 13, 2005 in a program consisting of "La Noche de los Mayas" by Silvestre Revueltas and the Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5. The concert was attended by many American orchestra administrators, and the performance was well received by the Philharmonic, audience, and critics. On the strength of these performances, Dudamel was invited back with the orchestra at Walt Disney Concert Hall in January 2007 in performances of "Dances of Galanta" by Zoltan Kodaly, the third piano concerto of Sergei Rachmaninoff with Yefim Bronfman as soloist, and Bela Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra (the latter of which was recorded live and subsequently released by Deutsche Grammophon). In April 2007, during a guest conducting engagement with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Dudamel was named the LAP's next music director as of the 2009-2010 season, succeeding Esa-Pekka Salonen. His initial contract in Los Angeles is for five years.
On April 16, 2007, Gustavo Dudamel conducted the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra in a concert in commemoration of the 80th birthday of Pope Benedict XVI, with Hilary Hahn as solo violinist, with the Pope himself and many other church dignitaries among the audience.
Dudamel is featured in the documentary film "Tocar y Luchar," which celebrates El Sistema.
"The 2007 WQXR Gramophone Special Recognition Award is presented to Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela on the stage of Carnegie Hall on November 10."
A piece about Gustavo, entitled "Gustavo the Great" aired on American TV news program 60 Minutes with reporter Bob Simon on February 17, 2008.