Back to Press Release List > 12/12/2007 - New York Debut of Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra 11/11-12

Led by Music Director and Conductor Gustavo Dudamel, the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela makes its New York debut with two Carnegie Hall concerts in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage on Sunday, November 11 at 2:00 p.m. and Monday, November 12 at 8:00 p.m. as part of Carnegie Hall’s first major festival Berlin in Lights, a 17-day celebration of the extraordinary city that is Berlin today.

On November 11, Mr. Dudamel, making his New York conducting debut with these concerts, leads the orchestra in a performance of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with pianist Emanuel Ax, Berlioz’s Le Carnaval romain Overture, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, and a variety of Latin American works. Mr. Dudamel opens the second concert on November 12, leading Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra. Sir Simon Rattle, Music Director of the Berliner Philharmoniker then joins the orchestra for the program’s second half, conducting Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10.

Long mentored by musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker among others, the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela was founded in 1975 by José Antonio Abreu with the mission of creating new opportunities for musical excellence in Venezuela. The orchestra is comprised of more than 200 young musicians between the ages of 14 and 24, all of whom received their musical training by way of El Sistema—Venezuela’s unique system of musical education and performance. In addition to its relationship with the Berliner Philharmoniker, the orchestra has worked closely with such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle, and Daniel Barenboim.

In addition to its two concerts at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan, members of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra also appear in New York City’s other four boroughs as part of the Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concert Series, a program of The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall. The Neighborhood Concert Series presents a variety of musical styles and performances in free, one-hour concerts throughout New York City in collaboration with libraries, museums, and shelters, as well as community, cultural, and religious centers. As part of Berlin in Lights, musicians of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela (SBYO) will perform four free chamber concerts:

•   Saturday, November 10 at 11:00 a.m., Queens Museum of Art, Flushing Meadows
    Corona Park (Designed for ages 6 to 11; open to the public.)
•   Saturday, November 10 at 3:00 p.m., Brooklyn College Performing Arts Center,
    Levenson Recital Hall, 200 Campus Road and Hillel Place, Brooklyn, NY (Designed for
    ages 6 to 11; open to the public.)
•   Tuesday, November 13 at 10:00 a.m., Kingsbridge International High School, 2780
    Reservoir Avenue, Bronx, NY (NOTE: This performance is for Kingsbridge International
    High School students and is not open to the public.)
•   Tuesday, November 13 at 10:30 a.m., Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Music Hall, 1000
    Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY (Designed for ages 6 to 11; open to the public.)

Artist Information
One of today’s uniquely gifted conductors, Gustavo Dudamel is currently Principal Conductor of Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, has recently been appointed Music Director of Los Angeles Philharmonic, effective 2009–10, and enters his ninth year as Music Director of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela. Mr. Dudamel’s 2007–08 season officially opens with his first concert as Principal Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. In September 2007, he returns to the Lucerne Festival for his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic with piano soloist Daniel Barenboim and later in the season debuts with the New York Philharmonic, the Berliner Philharmoniker, and Berlin Staatskapelle. In August 2007, Mr. Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela embarked on a European tour with performances at the Edinburgh Festival, the BBC Proms in the UK, and five concerts in Germany. This will be followed by a US tour in October with performances in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, and in New York’s Carnegie Hall. Mr. Dudamel returns this season to work with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and conducts the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. He also debuts this season with the San Francisco Symphony and returns to the Philharmonia Orchestra in London in June 2008. Other highlights include a performance at Berlin Staatsoper of La Bohème and a return to La Scala, also with La Bohème, along with concerts at Madrid’s Orquestra Nacional de España, Filarmonica della Scala, and Orquestra Sinfonica dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Italy. Mr. Dudamel is an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist. His debut recording, Beethoven 5&7 with the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra was released worldwide in September 2006 and he has received the 2007 Echo Award (Germany) for “New Artist of the Year.” His second recording with the Orchestra, Mahler 5, was released in May 2007.

Sir Simon Rattle was selected by the musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker to succeed Claudio Abbado as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director in June 1999, capping a relationship that began 12 years earlier. For 18 years (1980–1998) as Principal Conductor, Artistic Advisor, and then Music Director, he led the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. At the same time, Sir Simon served as the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s first Principal Guest Conductor from 1981–1994, a position he now holds with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment; and forged long-term bonds with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Vienna Philharmonic. A distinguished opera conductor as well, he has performed works of Mozart, Strauss, Wagner, Beethoven, and Janáček, and led the world premiere of Nicholas Maw’s Sophie’s Choice. An exclusive EMI artist, Simon Rattle has made more than 60 recordings with the CBSO, Berliner Philharmoniker, and other orchestras. He was named a K.B.E in 1994 in recognition of his contribution to the arts.

Pianist Emanuel Ax’s career has included appearances with major symphony orchestras worldwide, recitals in celebrated concert halls, a variety of chamber music collaborations, the commissioning and performance of new music, and Grammy Award-winning recordings on the Sony Classical label. Born in Lvov, Poland, Mr. Ax moved to Canada with his family and at an early age went on to study at The Juilliard School with Mieczyslaw Munz. Mr. Ax first captured the public’s attention in 1974 when, at age 25, he won the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv. Soon after, in 1979, he received the Avery Fisher Prize. He has been an exclusive Sony Classical recording artist since 1987 and two of his recordings of Haydn Piano Sonatas have won Grammy Awards.

The Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, founded in 1975 by José Antonio Abreu, has continuously aimed to create new opportunities for musical excellence and social change through music in Venezuela for over 30 years. Heading a national system, the State Foundation for the Venezuelan System of Youth and Child Orchestras (FESNOJIV), this orchestra is comprised of more than 200 young musicians between the ages of 14 and 24, all products of a system that is of equal social, musical, and educational importance in Venezuela. The orchestra has worked with such conductors as Claudio Abbado and Sir Simon Rattle. They tour with their Music Director and colleague Gustavo Dudamel. FESNOJIV involves some 250,000 musicians from across the country in a system of pre-school orchestras (4 to 6 years), over 90 children’s orchestras (7 to 16 years), over 130 youth orchestras (16 to 20 years), and over 30 professional adult symphony orchestras.

Berlin in Lights
Presented from November 2–18, Berlin in Lights is a 17-day celebration of the extraordinary city that is Berlin today, offering a snapshot of Germany’s vibrant capital city through orchestral, chamber, cabaret, world, and techno music concerts as well as film, architecture, literature, and photography events. With close to 50 events presented at Carnegie Hall and throughout New York City, the scope of the festival is made possible through collaborations with a broad range of cultural partners including The American Academy in Berlin, the Center for Architecture, the German Consulate General in New York, Goethe-Institut New York, the Guggenheim Museum, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Neue Galerie New York, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Thirteen/WNET New York, WNYC—New York Public Radio, and the World Music Institute.

The concept for Berlin in Lights grew out of Carnegie Hall’s plans to present an eight-day residency by Sir Simon Rattle and the world-renowned Berliner Philharmoniker. This residency, taking place November 10–18, will include three Berliner Philharmoniker concerts featuring Mahler’s last three works coupled with contemporary music, four chamber music concerts with ensembles drawn from the ranks of the orchestra, free chamber performances by Berliner Philharmoniker musicians in communities throughout the city, and major arts education projects with the New York Public Schools. In the nine days leading up to the orchestra’s residency, a wide range of Berlin in Lights concerts, exhibitions, panel discussions, and film screenings will be presented on all three stages of Carnegie Hall and at partner venues throughout New York City, providing an illuminating exploration of Berlin’s cultural scene.

Further information on all events and participants may be found at Carnegie Hall’s dedicated Berlin in Lights website: www.carnegiehall.org/berlininlights . The website, which goes live in late September, will feature a full listing of events, performers, and repertoire, as well as a multimedia component featuring essays on Berlin, audio interviews, video footage, photographs from Berlin in Lights events, and blogs from New York-based writers and participants in the festival.