the Venezuelan Gustav Dudamel will conduct the New York Philharmonic Orchestra starting in 2026, following in the footsteps of great masters such as Gustav Mahler, Arturo Toscanini and Leonard Berstein, the prestigious institution announced on Tuesday.

The Venezuelan has a contract until the 2025-2026 season with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he has been since 2009. He has also been music director of the Paris Opera since 2021 and conductor of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela since 1999 Thus was the first Latin at the helm of the historic orchestra founded in 1842, now occupied by the Dutchman Jaap van Zweden.

very honored

“Today I am honored to be named the next Artistic and Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, adding to a legacy that includes great masters,” said Dudamel, 42.

In turn, the president of the New York Philharmonic, Deborah Borda, said: “It is a dream come true for our musicians, our audience and certainly for me.”

“Every time he steps on the podium, we feel an amazing connection with him,” trumpeter Christopher Martin said in the official statement.

previous visits

Gustavo Dudamel made his New York Philharmonic debut in November 2007, conducting works by Dvořák and Prokofiev, as well as the first performances of the Indian Symphony Orchestra. (Symphony No. 2) by Chávez since Bernstein ran the show in 1961.

In his New York repertoire he has performed since symphony no. 5 by Mahler, A clearof the Mexican Gabriela Ortiz, o We’ll get you through the nightby the Portuguese Andreia Pinto Correia.

Dudamel emerged from the prestigious Venezuelan system, one of the most renowned music education programs in the world, created by his mentor José Antonio Abreu.

Like him, thousands of Venezuelan children from disadvantaged classes learned to play a musical instrument thanks to Abreu’s system, which also led to the creation of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, which propelled Dudamel to the top of the universe of classical music. .

“Every step we take on earth leads us to a better world”, he wrote in Spanish and English on his Twitter account, paraphrasing the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca, convinced that “culture creates a better world and the dream that music is a fundamental element Right.