Gustavo Dudamel facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gustavo Dudamel
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Dudamel in 2008
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Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez
26 January 1981 Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela
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| Years active | 1999–present |
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| Children | 1 |
Gustavo Dudamel, born on January 26, 1981, is a famous conductor from Venezuela. He leads two major orchestras: the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He is also set to become the Music and Artistic Director of the New York Philharmonic in 2026.
Contents
Early Life and Music Training
Gustavo Dudamel grew up in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. His dad played the trombone, and his mom was a voice teacher. He started learning music when he was very young. In 1986, he joined El Sistema, a special music program in Venezuela. He first learned the violin and then began to study composition.
He attended the Jacinto Lara Conservatory and later the Latin-American Violin Academy. In 1995, Dudamel started learning to conduct. His teachers included Rodolfo Saglimbeni and José Antonio Abreu. In 1999, he became the music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, which is Venezuela's national youth orchestra. He traveled with them to many countries.
Gustavo Dudamel's Career
Becoming a Conductor
Dudamel won several music competitions, including the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in Germany in 2004. His talent became widely known. Famous conductors like Simon Rattle and Claudio Abbado noticed him. In April 2006, Dudamel was chosen as the main conductor for the Gothenburg Symphony in Sweden.
He made his first appearance at La Scala in Milan, Italy, in November 2006. On September 10, 2007, he conducted the Vienna Philharmonic for the first time. In April 2007, he led the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Vatican. This concert celebrated the 80th birthday of Pope Benedict XVI.
In 2013, Dudamel conducted the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra at the funeral of Hugo Chávez. Many world leaders attended this event.
In 2015, John Williams asked Dudamel to conduct music for the Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie. At the 2016 Super Bowl, Dudamel and Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) performed with Coldplay, Beyoncé, and Bruno Mars.
On January 1, 2017, Dudamel conducted the Vienna Philharmonic for the New Year's Day Concert. He was the youngest conductor ever to lead this famous event. In December 2018, he conducted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City for the first time.
Dudamel was an artist-in-residence at Princeton University from 2018 to 2019. He led discussions and concerts there. In April 2021, he was named the music director of the Opéra national de Paris. He left this role in August 2023. In 2023, he conducted the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra again at the Edinburgh International Festival. This was his first time leading them since 2017.
Leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Dudamel first conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic (LAP) in the US on September 13, 2005. He was later invited back to conduct them at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
In April 2007, the LAP announced that Dudamel would be their new music director. He officially started this role in September 2009. His contract with the Los Angeles Philharmonic was extended several times. He is set to finish his time as music director there at the end of the 2025–2026 season.
Working with the New York Philharmonic
Dudamel first conducted the New York Philharmonic as a guest in 2007. After many guest appearances, the New York Philharmonic announced in February 2023 that Dudamel would become their Music and Artistic Director. He is the first Latin American to hold this important position. He will start as Music Director Designate in the 2025–2026 season. His official role as Music and Artistic Director begins in the 2026–2027 season.
Awards and Recognition
Dudamel is featured in the documentary film Tocar y Luchar, which is about El Sistema. In November 2007, he and the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar received a special award in New York City. He was also featured on the TV show 60 Minutes in February 2008.
In 2009, Dudamel won the prestigious The City of Toronto Glenn Gould Protégé Prize. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in 2010. He is also in the 2011 documentary Let the Children Play, which shows his work helping children through music.
Gramophone magazine named Dudamel its Artist of the Year in 2011. In February 2012, he won a Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance. In 2013, he was named Musical America's Musician of the Year. He also received the Leonard Bernstein Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.
The character Rodrigo in Amazon's Mozart in the Jungle TV show was partly based on Dudamel. He even made a guest appearance on the show.
In June 2018, Dudamel received Chile's Pablo Neruda Order of Artistic and Cultural Merit. He also received the Paez Medal of Art 2018. On October 18, 2018, he was given the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize.
Dudamel received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on January 22, 2019. At the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, he won a Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance.
In 2019, Dudamel conducted the orchestra for Steven Spielberg's 2021 film West Side Story. In 2020, he had a small voice role as Trollzart in the movie Trolls World Tour.
In April 2023, Dudamel was chosen to join the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In May 2024, he received an honorary degree from Harvard University. He also received the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement in 2024. In 2025, he won a Grammy Award for his track "Ortiz: Revolución Diamantina."
Personal Life
Gustavo Dudamel has been married twice. His first marriage was in 2006 to Eloísa Maturén, a ballet dancer and journalist from Venezuela. They had a son, Martín, in 2011. They divorced in 2015. In February 2017, Dudamel married Spanish actress María Valverde in Las Vegas, Nevada. He became a Spanish citizen in 2018.
Discography
2006
- Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7 [w/ the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela] CD
2007
- Birthday Concert for Pope Benedict XVI [w/ Hilary Hahn & the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart] DVD
- Mahler: Symphony No. 5 [w/ the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela] CD
- Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra [w/ the Los Angeles Philharmonic] Digital Download only
2008
- The Promise of Music [w/ the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela] DVD
- Fiesta [w/ the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela] CD
- Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique [w/ the Los Angeles Philharmonic] Digital Download only
2009
- Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic: The Inaugural Concert [w/ the Los Angeles Philharmonic] DVD; e-Video
- Mahler: Symphony No. 1 (From the Inaugural Concert) [w/ the Los Angeles Philharmonic] Digital Download only
- Discoveries [w/ the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela] CD
- Live from Salzburg [w/ the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela] DVD
- Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5; Francesca da Rimini [w/ the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela] CD
- Piotr Anderszewski: Voyageur intranquille; a film by Bruno Monsaingeon. Credited: with the artistic participation of Philharmonia Orchestra London – conducted by Gustavo Dudamel] Blu-ray
2010
- Celebración – Opening Night Concert & Gala [w/ Juan Diego Flórez and the Los Angeles Philharmonic] DVD; Digital Download
- John Adams: City Noir (From the Inaugural Concert) [w/ the Los Angeles Philharmonic] Digital Download only
- Rite [w/ the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela] CD
2011
- Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 – Nielsen: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5 – Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 [w/ the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra] CD
- Tchaikovsky & Shakespeare [w/ the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela] CD
- New Year's Eve Concert 2010 [w/ Elīna Garanča and the Berliner Philharmoniker] DVD
- John Adams: Slonimsky's Earbox – Bernstein: Symphony No. 1 "Jeremiah" [w/ the Los Angeles Philharmonic] Digital Download only
- Brahms: Symphony No. 4 [w/ the Los Angeles Philharmonic] Digital Download only
2012
- An American in Paris [w/ the Los Angeles Philharmonic] e-Video only
- Dances and Waves [w/ the Vienna Philharmonic] CD; DVD; Digital Download
- Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 [w/ the Vienna Philharmonic] Vinyl only (LP)
- Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, "Eroica" [w/ the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela] CD
- Discoveries [w/ Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra] CD+DVD; Digital Download
- Mahler: Symphony No. 8 [w/ Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela] DVD; Blu-ray; e-Video
- Summer Night Concert (Sommernachtskonzert) 2012: Dances and Waves; Wiener Philharmoniker; DVD; Deutsche Grammophon
2013
- Mahler: Symphony No. 9 [w/ Los Angeles Philharmonic] CD
- Verdi: Messa da Requiem [w/ Los Angeles Philharmonic and Los Angeles Master Chorale] Blu-ray
- Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3; Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 2 [w/ Yuja Wang, piano and Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela] CD
- Richard Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra; Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche; Don Juan [w/ Berliner Philarmoniker]
2014
- Mahler: Symphony No. 7. [w/ Símon Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela] CD
- Gustavo Dudamel: The Liberator (Libertador); Original Soundtrack [w/ Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar de Venezuela] CD
- John Adams: The Gospel According to the Other Mary, a passion oratorio in two acts [w/ Los Angeles Philharmonic and Los Angeles Master Chrale] CD
2015
- Wagner [w/ Símon Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela] Digital Download
- Philip Glass: Double Piano Concerto [w/ Katia and Marielle Labeque (Piano), Los Angeles Philharmonic] Only at iTunes
- John Williams: Star Wars: The Force Awakens. [Special guest conductor for four tacks] CD, DVD, Blu-ray, Digital Download
2017
- New Year Concert [w/ Vienna Philharmonic] CDs and Digital download.
2018
- The Nutcracker and the Four Realms original soundtrack CD and Digital Download
2022
- Dvořák: Symphonies Nos. 7–9 w/ Los Angeles Philharmonic Digital Download
See also
In Spanish: Gustavo Dudamel para niños
