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Venezuela Gustavo Dudamel is a globally recognized conductor and violinist, now extending his leadership to the New York Philharmonic and advocating for arts education worldwide.
Rolex has proudly supported Venezuelan conductor and violonist Gustavo Dudamel since welcoming him to the Rolex Family in the arts in 2008.
Conductor Gustavo Dudamel serves as Music & Artistic Director, Walt and Lilly Disney Chair of the LA Phil, and Dudamel and the LA Phil have earned multiple...
The Dudamel Foundation and its co-chairs, Gustavo Dudamel and María Valverde, collaborate with an international network of young artists, teachers, ...
Dudamel will lead the New York Philharmonic as its next Music and Artistic Director, the first Latin American named to the post, effective with the 2026–2027 season, with an initial contract of 5 years.
Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic create immersive symphonic experience - Dolby Atmos. His discography with the label includes highly acclaimed recordings.
To promote the arrival of new conductor Gustavo Dudamel, the L.A. Philharmonic worked with Hello Design to create an integrated campaign...
New York welcomes Gustavo Dudamel as its future conductor with an honorary doctorate from Juilliard...
In 2007 Dudamel, the LA Phil, and its community partners founded YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles), which now provides more than 1,700 young people with free...
Fidelio is a collaboration between LA Phil and Deaf West Theatre, and features both...
Gustavo Dudamel has released six albums on the innovative Platoon label, including Philip Glass’s Violin Concerto No.1 with Anne Akiko Meyers and the LA Phil, Odyssey and Boléro with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra.
In 2024 he was the first classical musician to be featured on the cover of Billboard.
A residency in London that saw Dudamel and the orchestra opening for Coldplay at Wembley Stadium and performing at the Royal Festival Hall.
In 2020, Dudamel made a cameo appearance as Trollzart in Dreamworks' Trolls World Tour.
Dudamel conducted the score to Steven Spielberg’s 2021 adaptation of West Side Story.
At John Williams’s request he guest conducted the opening and closing credits of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Dudamel recorded with Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the LA Phil for Decca, releasing a Khachaturian album.
Dudamel recorded Thomas Adès’s Dante with the LA Phil for Nonesuch, which won the 2024 Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance.
Gustavo Dudamel Ramírez was born on January 26, 1981, in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, to a trombonist father and a voice teacher mother. His musical journey began at an early age when he joined El Sistema in 1986, where he initially learned the violin and later studied composition. He attended the Jacinto Lara Conservatory and the Latin-American Violin Academy. In 1995, Dudamel started studying conducting, first with Rodolfo Saglimbeni and then with José Antonio Abreu, who would become his mentor. His talent was recognized early, leading to his appointment as music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra in 1999 at the age of 18. His breakthrough came in 2004 when he won the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in Germany, which brought him international attention and the notice of established conductors like Simon Rattle and Claudio Abbado.
Dudamel’s career progressed rapidly. In 2006, he was appointed principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony, beginning his tenure in the 2007/2008 season. His debut at La Scala in Milan was in November 2006 with ‘Don Giovanni’. He first conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in September 2007 at the Lucerne Festival. A significant turning point in his career was his appointment as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (LAP), effective beginning with the 2009–2010 season, following his U.S. debut with the LAP at the Hollywood Bowl in 2005. He continued to extend his contract with the LAP through the 2025–2026 season, marking 17 years of groundbreaking programming. Throughout this period, he championed contemporary music, including premieres of works by Ellen Reid, John Adams, Ricardo Lorenz, Angélica Negrón, and Roberto Sierra. He also led the LAP on international tours to South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan in October 2025.
Simultaneously, Dudamel maintained leadership positions and engaged in advocacy. He was named Music and Artistic Director of the New York Philharmonic, commencing in the 2026–2027 season, following 26 guest-conducting appearances. He served as music director of the Opéra national de Paris from 2021 to 2023, conducting acclaimed productions of operas such as Puccini’s ‘Turandot’ and Wagner’s ‘Tristan und Isolde’. A strong advocate for music education, in 2007, Dudamel, the LAP, and community partners founded YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles), providing free music instruction to over 1,700 young people. In 2012, he launched the Dudamel Foundation with his wife, María Valverde, to expand access to music. He also made significant contributions to film, conducting scores for ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ (2015) and Steven Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story’ (2021). His extensive discography includes seven Grammy Awards and nine nominations, with notable recordings such as Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 and Gabriela Ortiz’s ‘Revolución diamantina’. His numerous honors include the Glenn Gould Prize Laureate (2022) and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (2019).
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