Gustavo Dudamel: The Power of Music

When he was just 26 years old, Gustavo Dudamel arrived from Venezuela to become conductor and music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He immediately became one of the world's most beloved figures in classical music. He's collaborated with pop stars (including Billie Eilish, Nas and Christina Aguilera). He's played the Super Bowl half-time show. He even the model for the main character in the hit tv series "Mozart in the Jungle". Sixteen years later, after making an enormous mark on the LA Phil and the city of LA, Gustavo Dudamel is preparing to move east, as music director and artistic director of the New York Philharmonic. He talks here about coming up as a musician and a budding conductor in "El Sistema", Venezuela's classical music training ground for children of all backgrounds. He describes conducting his toy figurines while listening to the world's greatest orchestras, before he even understood what conductors actually do. And he shares his love of music - all music - and his work to erase boundaries between audiences.

You can listen to Gustavo Dudamel: The Power of Music online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Gustavo Dudamel: The Power of Music is an episode from What It Takes by Academy of Achievement.

This episode is 00:50:49 long.

This episode was published on Feb 22, 2025.

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