The long run has simply become visible on the New York Philharmonic, which immediately named conductor Gustavo Dudamel its next music director. The announcement was made concurrently in New York and in Los Angeles, the place Dudamel has served a starry tenure because the orchestra’s music and creative director since 2009.
“This is a dream come true for our musicians, our audience and certainly for me,” New York Philharmonic president and CEO Deborah Borda stated in a media assertion. “The coming together of a great orchestra, a visionary music and artistic director and our transformed hall promises the richest of futures.” It was Borda, then serving as president of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, who oversaw Dudamel’s appointment there.
Initially from Venezuela, Dudamel is a product of El Sistema, the storied music-education program established there by José Antonio Abreu. He initially captured the world’s consideration because the music director of that nation’s nationwide youth orchestra, the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. Along with his Los Angeles submit, from which he’ll step down in 2026, Dudamel in 2021 grew to become the music director of the Opéra nationwide de Paris.
Dudamel first appeared with the New York Philharmonic in November 2007, and has returned to the orchestra steadily since, usually for a couple of week per go to throughout current seasons. He’s scheduled to steer the orchestra next in Might, in performances of Mahler’s valedictory Symphony No. 9.
Dudamel will function Music Director Designate through the 2025-26 season, succeeding the outgoing director, Jaap van Zweden. Dudamel will then begin a five-year time period because the New York Philharmonic’s Music and Creative Director within the 2026-27 season.
“Today, above all, I am grateful,” Dudamel stated in an announcement. “I am grateful to the musicians and leadership of the New York Philharmonic as we embark upon this new and beautiful journey together; to my beloved family at the Los Angeles Philharmonic and YOLA for helping me to learn and grow through countless challenges and triumphs; and to my Maestro Abreu and the musicians of Venezuela who have been there with me since the beginning.”
The New York Philharmonic has introduced a proper press convention welcoming Dudamel on Feb. 20.