Gustavo Dudamel Musical director

Gustavo Dudamel is driven by the belief that music has the power to transform lives and change the world. Through his presence on the podium and his tireless fight in arts education, he has introduced classical music to new audiences and has helped to provide access to the arts for countless people in disadvantaged communities. 

He has conducted over 30 operatic performances on major international stages (Los Angeles Opera, La Scala in Milan, the Vienna and Berlin Staatsopers, the New York Metropolitan Opera) in a repertoire ranging from Così fan tutte to Carmen, Otello and Tannhäuser and comprising West Side Story as well as contemporary operas by composers such as John Adams or Oliver Knussen. Gustavo Dudamel is currently the artistic and musical Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, but also the Paris Opera and the Simón Bolívar Symphonic Orchestra Music Director. 

Inspired by the El Sistema programme, he founded YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles) in 2007, which has already provided 1500 young people with free instruments, intensive musical and conducting teaching. He also founded in 2012 the Dudamel Foundation aiming to “widen access to music and the arts for young people”. His discography, rewarded with multiple Grammy Awards, comprises 65 albums. 

Gustavo Dudamel was born in 1981 in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. In 1996, at the age of 18, he was appointed Music Director of the Simón Bolívar Youth Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. In 2004, he won the inaugural Bamberger Symphoniker Gustav Mahler Competition and gained international fame. He was nominated (2007-2012) Music Director of the Gothenburg Symphony. 

He was then appointed Music and Artistic Director of the Los Angeles philharmonic Orchestra in 2009, as well as Music Director of the Paris Opera Orchestra in 2021. In 2022, he was named Officier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres.