Last week Gustavo Dudamel and the Gothenburg Symphony began a three-week series of concerts at home in Sweden.  On the first week's program was Mahler's monumental Symphony No. 9 in D Major. The GSO has posted some video footage from the rehearsals to its official YouTube channel.
 
The concerts this week, which were on March 3 and 4, included Mendelssohn’s Hibrides Overture, Debussy’s La Mer, and Sebelius's Symphony No. 2.  A short video clip of their performance of the Sebelius is viewable also on the GSO's YouTube channel.
 
On March 10, 11 and 12, Gustavo will end his three-week in Gothenburg with performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. He returns to the GSO in May for performances of Mozart's Mass in C Minor.  For more information, please visit the GSO's website.

This spring Gustavo Dudamel presides over his first major festival with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Americas and Americans.   Running from April 6 to May 14, the festival spotlights works by North and South American composers and explores the cultural experiences shared across the hemisphere. Dudamel will lead the orchestra in a program of works by Chávez, Lieberson, and Bernstein on April 22 and 23.  The week of April 29 finds Gustavo and the LA Phil a unique interdisciplinary collaboration with filmmaker Alberto Arvelo, in which Antonio Estévez’s atmospheric, folk-inspired Cantata Criolla will be designed and staged by the renowned director using film, costumes, and innovative theatrical techniques.

Visit the LA Phil website for more information

On Tuesday, February 16 Gustavo Dudamel and Los Angeles Philharmonic President and CEO Deborah Borda announced the 2010/11 season of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. As they move into the second season of their partnership, the momentum and initiatives of Dudamel’s inaugural season continue with 12 new commissions, 9 world premieres, 5 U.S. premieres, 5 West Coast premieres, 2 composer-based festivals, a major European tour and a series of artistic partnerships. The vibrant season is further embodied in the expansion of YOLA (the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles), along with a spectrum of imaginative presentations and the continuing tradition of introducing rising artists and composers.

Click here to watch the LA Phil's 2010/11 season announcement press conference
Read about the announcement in the LA Times

On January 29 Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela gave a charity concert in the Venezuelan city of Maracaibo to collect food and aid supplies for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.  The event, titled “United for Haiti,” closed a national tour of free concerts.

Watch a video of the concert in Maracaibo

The LA Phil has announced that Gustavo Dudamel will make three appearances with the orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl this summer.  On August 1 he will conduct a concert version of Bizet's Carmen, with Natasha Petrinksy singing the title role.  On August 3 Dudamel will lead the orchestra in a program that includes Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, with pianist Gabriela Montero as soloist, and selections from Bernstein's On the Town.  For his final Hollywood Bowl concert of the summer on August 5, he and the orchestra will perform an international selection of works that includes Ravel’s beloved Bolero.  

Maestro Dudamel has a special connection to the Hollywood Bowl.  The Venezuelan conductor made his U.S. debut in September 2005 in a concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the iconic outdoor venue.  The August performances will mark the first time he has performed at the venue since October 2009, when he led the orchestra in his first concert as Music Director.

Visit the Hollywood Bowl website for subscription information
Read the announcement in the Los Angeles Times

Gustavo Dudamel and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra will perform four concerts in Spain from January 18 to 21 as part of the Canary Island Music Festival.  The performances are on January 18 and 19 in Las Palmas and on January 20 and 21 in Tenerife.  The first program to be performed by the GSO includes Beethoven Symphony No. 6 and Nielsen Symphony No. 4 (January 18 and 20).  The second program includes the GSO-commissioned Rituales Amerindos by Argentinian composer Esteban Benzecry, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with Leif Ove Andsnes as soloist, and Sibelius Symphony No. 2 (January 19 and 21).  The Spain concerts are preceded by two performances in Gothenburg on January 13 and 15 that feature the works to be performed on the tour program, including the world-premiere of Benzecry’s Rituales Amerindos (January 13 and 15) and the Rachmaninoff concerto with Andsnes (January 15 only).

Watch a video of Gustavo and the GSO rehearsing Benzecry’s Rituales Amerindos
Visit the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra web site
Visit the Canary Island Music Festival web site 

The Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA), the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Music Director Gustavo Dudamel were honored with the inaugural Los Angeles Real Creativity (LARC) Award on December 5, 2009.  Established by the Urban Land Institute of Los Angeles (ULI), the ULI LARC Awards are presented annually to four recipients who, through their extraordinary vision and creative action, help to change the world and lives of Angelenos, Americans and global citizens.

Read the story on broadwayworld.com
Learn more on the LARC Awards website

The Spanish newspaper El País has named Gustavo Dudamel one of the top 100 Ibero-Americans in 2009.  The conductor is one of three Venezuelans to make the list (the others are Caracas mayor Antonio Ledezma and pianist Gabriela Montero).  The ranking also includes Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, actress Penélope Cruz, and tennis player Juan Martín del Potro.

Read the full story in El Universal

The Ibero-American Youth Orchestra, led by Gustavo Dudamel, gave its first public performance on December 1 at the closing ceremony of the 19th Ibero-American Summit, held this year in Estoril, Portugal.  The El Sistema-modeled orchestra, which is comprised of 130 musicians from the twenty-two Ibero-American countries, was formed in 2008 with the the mission to encourage music education among underprivileged youth.

The annual Ibero-American summit, which is attended by leaders of the twenty-two Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries in Latin America and Europe, was first held in Mexico in 1991.  

Read coverage of the event in El Nacional

Deutsche Grammophon releases the DVD of Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s opening-night gala on December 15. This concert was recorded live at Walt Disney Concert Hall on October 8, 2009 and was previously televised as part of PBS’s Great Performances series.  Preorder your copy on Amazon or buy it now at the LA Phil Store.