- Gustavo Dudamel will take over as the New York Philharmonic’s music and creative director in 2026.
- Dudamel has been the conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 2009.
- He has conducted 26 of their performances and founded the YOLA youth orchestra in 2007.
Los Angeles’ music industry took a hit on Tuesday when the New York Philharmonic announced that famous Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel would take over as the orchestra’s music and creative director in 2026.
Dudamel has been the conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 2009. He is renowned for his energetic energy and bouncy curly hair. Deborah Borda, who is currently the New York Philharmonic’s president, hired him.
With Dudamel at the helm, the US local newspaper called the LA Phil “the most important orchestra in America – period.”
“I am grateful to the musicians and leadership of the New York Philharmonic as we embark upon this new and beautiful journey together,” Dudamel said on Tuesday. “As the great poet Federico García Lorca said: ‘Every step we take on earth brings us to a new world.’”
Since his debut with the NY Phil at age 26, Dudamel, 42, has conducted 26 of their performances.
Dudamel, who moved to Los Angeles at the age of 27, strove to promote music from the Americas, interact with contemporary composers, and draw new audiences to classical music at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl.
As the most well-known graduate of Venezuela’s renowned El Sistema network of music institutions, he also founded the YOLA youth orchestra in 2007, which offered 1,500 children free instruments and instruction.
Chad Smith, CEO of the LA Phil, praised Dudamel and stated that he “has left indelible marks on classical music, the LA Phil, and Los Angeles.”
According to Smith, Dudamel organized some of the most ambitious pieces ever performed, motivated the orchestra to reach new artistic heights, pushed the boundaries of Walt Disney Concert Hall, and showed through YOLA the ability of music to transform people’s lives.
He will succeed Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden at the NY Phil.
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