Gustavo Dudamel

Born in 1981 in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. His father was a trombone player, and his mother a voice teacher, so he grew up surrounded by music; from time to time he would play conducting his toys formed as an orchestra with old recordings as background. He studied violin, but at a very young age he started to be attracted to conducting, and at age of 13 he formed his youth orchestra. He studied conducting with Rodolfo Saglimbeni. Appointed musical director in 1996 of the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra, where José Antonio Abreu discovered his talent and became his mentor. In 1999, at age of 18, he was appointed music director of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra in Venezuela, consisting of graduates of the El Sistema program. Dudamel gained international attention when he won the inaugural edition at The Gustav Mahler Competition of the Bamberger Symphony Orchestra in 2004. Dudamel continued his career taking over as music director of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (2007-2012), where he now holds the title of Honorary Conductor. Dudamel's talent has been widely recognized, especially by other prominent conductors, but it was the Los Angeles Philharmonic that in 2009 took the initiative to hire Dudamel as music director at the age of 27. Since then, he has become one of the most awarded conductors of his generation. He has received countless awards in different countries and his extensive discography, worthy of several Grammy Awards, includes 65 premieres, including recent recordings of Mahler's Symphony No. 8 with the LA Phil, which won him the Grammy for Best Choral Performance.