{"id":373528,"date":"2026-10-15T02:34:53","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T02:34:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/373528\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T02:34:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T02:34:53","slug":"gustavo-dudamels-vision-goes-beyond-the-new-york-philharmonic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/373528\/","title":{"rendered":"Gustavo Dudamel\u2019s vision goes beyond the New York Philharmonic"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Lee el art\u00edculo en espa\u00f1ol<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

New York\u00a0\u2014\u00a0\n <\/p>\n

\n It was a star-studded gathering at Lincoln Center<\/a>, with the likes of Steven Spielberg and Alec Baldwin toasting New York\u2019s new Philharmonic<\/a> director with champagne, arepas and the din of salsa music.\n <\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s been a while since the city\u2019s cultural elite has buzzed as it has with the arrival of Gustavo Dudamel, 45.\n <\/p>\n

\n Dudamel, or \u201cThe Dude,\u201d as he was known during his 17 season-run at the helm of the Los Angeles Philharmonic<\/a>, was a force in LA, both on the stage and in his efforts at tackling the age-old issue of democratizing an artform often seen as elitist. Dudamel broadened the Philharmonic\u2019s reach through educational programs and crossovers with popular culture, notably appearing at the halftime show at the FIFA World Cup final<\/a>, and conducting scores for films like \u201cWest Side Story\u201d and \u201cStar Wars: The Force Awakens.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Now, he has arrived in New York with a similar mission, and has spoken<\/a> from the beginning of his belief that music is a \u201cfundamental right.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cYou really have to take the risk,\u201d Dudamel said in an interview<\/a> this summer. \u201cTo really make people feel that they belong.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"Amanpour<\/p>\n

A connection with beauty: Gustavo Dudamel on the power of music\n <\/p>\n

\"Amanpour<\/p>\n

A connection with beauty: Gustavo Dudamel on the power of music<\/p>\n

17:10<\/p>\n

\n Dudamel\u2019s sensibility was forged as a child growing up in the Venezuelan city of Barquisimeto, where he learned to play violin through El Sistema, Venezuela\u2019s National System of Youth and Children\u2019s Orchestras and Choirs. The program was founded in 1975 by Jos\u00e9 Antonio Abreu, a musician and economist who believed that classical music \u2014 long reserved for a select few \u2014 could transform the lives of Venezuela\u2019s poorest children. Since its founding, more than one million people, according to official Venezuelan figures, have taken part in the program, which operates in community centers and offers free instruments and lessons to children, most of whom come from low-income families.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWhat my colleagues in Venezuela understand about music is that it\u2019s not just decorative, it\u2019s not just extracurricular, and it\u2019s not just fun, although it is fun,\u201d said Anne Fitzgibbon, founder and executive director of the Harmony Program<\/a>, a New York City nonprofit that provides free music education to children in underserved communities. Fitzgibbon drew inspiration to create the program after studying El Sistema in Venezuela on a Fulbright fellowship in 2007.\n <\/p>\n

\n El Sistema was founded decades before Hugo Chavez came to power in a populist revolution that quickly turned authoritarian. He and his successor, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, continued funding the program, and so its ties to the state have drawn scrutiny. For years, critics also questioned Dudamel\u2019s silence <\/a>about Chavez and Maduro and the human rights abuses and corruption that marked their reins. Dudamel broke his silence in May 2017 after a young musician was killed during a protest.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI raise my voice against any form of repression,\u201d he wrote<\/a> at the time in an open letter<\/a>. \u201cTimes cannot be defined by the blood of our people.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Speaking to CNN this summer, Dudamel praised El Sistema. \u201cIt\u2019s not a musical factory system,\u201d he said. \u201cEl Sistema is using music to transform the lives of children.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Dudamel has landed in a city with several programs inspired by El Sistema\u2019s model.\n <\/p>\n

\n Around the US, some 150 organizations inspired by El Sistema \u2014 ranging from community programs to YOLA<\/a>, the youth orchestra Dudamel helped found in Los Angeles \u2014 teach music to more than 30,000 students, according to El Sistema USA<\/a>, the network that connects them.\n <\/p>\n

\n Carlos S\u00e1nchez was just 13 when he first performed alongside Dudamel at a concert in his native Maracaibo, Venezuela\u2019s second biggest city. Years later, after studying bass through El Sistema, he toured the world with the Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar Symphony Orchestra under Dudamel\u2019s baton.\n <\/p>\n

\"Carlos<\/p>\n

\n Now he is the director of UpBeat NYC<\/a>, a community music center in the South Bronx offering free music education for 230 students aged 5 to 21.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWhen I first came to UpBeat, I saw how the program worked with the children. It was what I was feeling back in my country,\u201d S\u00e1nchez said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Funded by private donations and grants, UpBeat also helps families with food and support during difficult times. \u201cIt\u2019s not just asking a kid whether they practiced,\u201d said S\u00e1nchez. \u201cIt\u2019s asking, \u2018Are you hungry? Is everything okay at home?\u2019\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Now, groups like UpBeat hope Dudamel\u2019s arrival will bring more attention to them and allow them to grow.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cHe\u2019s bringing power to a few levels that we\u2019re interested to see how he utilizes,\u201d said Richard Miller, the program\u2019s co-founder and co-executive director. \u201cWe\u2019re going to be there trying to be in his ear to make sure it\u2019s going to the families that we represent and work with.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Following Dudamel\u2019s appointment, the Philharmonic\u2019s co-chairman, Oscar L. Tang, and his wife, Agnes Hsu-Tang, donated $40 million<\/a> to advance music education and bring orchestra to new audiences.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIn our generation, we\u2019ve not had a music director that has been both equally committed to what\u2019s happening at the podium, as he is with what is happening in the schools,\u201d said Gary Padmore, the New York Philharmonic\u2019s Vice President for Education and Community Engagement.\n <\/p>\n

\n Padmore acknowledged that New York\u2019s school system remains deeply segregated and said his team is targeting the city\u2019s \u201carts deserts,\u201d such as Corona in Queens and Canarsie in Brooklyn. Change will take time, he said. Dudamel will be with the orchestra for only about 15 weeks a year, and Padmore described a conductor\u2019s first season as a period of \u201cdeep listening.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Miller, of UpBeat, tempered his enthusiasm with caution. The issues run deep \u2014 he noted that the orchestra must still diversify and that Afro-Latino artists fought for decades to broaden classical music\u2019s audience and that Lincoln Center itself was built on San Juan Hill, a neighborhood whose Black and Puerto Rican families were displaced to make way for it.\n <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

New York’s Lincoln Center: A cultural crossroads\n <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

New York’s Lincoln Center: A cultural crossroads<\/p>\n

4:21<\/p>\n

\n A few miles from Lincoln Center, S\u00e1nchez said he hoped Dudamel would inspire UpBeat\u2019s students, just as the conductor once inspired a young S\u00e1nchez in Maracaibo.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI didn\u2019t know any of this until they came to me,\u201d he said. \u201cI hope with all my heart that he can come and bring the same hope.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lee el art\u00edculo en espa\u00f1ol New York\u00a0\u2014\u00a0 It was a star-studded gathering at Lincoln Center, with the likes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10],"class_list":["post-373528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}