Gustavo Dudamel leaves Los Angeles and signs for the New York Philharmonic

By Ronald Blum -

NEW YORK — Gustavo Dudamel will become music director of the New York Philharmonic for the 2026-27 season, ending a heralded tenure with the same Los Angeles lineup that began in 2009.

The 42-year-old Venezuelan conductor has agreed to a five-year contract as New York's artistic and musical director, the orchestra announced Tuesday.

Dudamel will become the first Latino to lead the orchestra since its founding in 1842.

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“What the orchestra told us very, very clearly was that the person they wanted, their dream candidate, was Gustavo,” said New York Philharmonic director general Deborah Borda.

"When you're trying to hire the most in-demand conductor in the world, you don't do some sort of classic search."

Dudamel -who will hold the title of music director appointed in 2025-26- will also continue to be music director of the Paris Opera, a position he has held since 2021, and of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, a position he assumed in 1999 and which he earned international recognition.

Dudamel, in a statement, quoted the phrase of the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca: "Every step we take on earth leads us to a new world."

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"I look with joy and excitement at the world before me in New York City, and with pride and love at the world I have shared - and will continue to share - with my beloved Angelenos for the next three seasons and beyond," Dudamel said. .

"All of us are united in our belief that culture creates a better world, and in our dream that music is a fundamental right."

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Jaap van Zweden said in September 2021 that he would leave the New York Philharmonic after the 2023-24 season, a six-season tenure as music director that will be the shortest since Pierre Boulez succeeded Leonard Bernstein and conducted the orchestra in 1971. to 1977.

Borda communicated his decision to the New York orchestra and Dudamel to the Los Angeles musicians in simultaneous announcements during respective rehearsals at David Geffen Hall and Lincoln Center's Walt Disney Concert Hall.

The New York Philharmonic moved back into Geffen Hall in October, following a $550 million renovation that improved acoustics, visibility and facilities.

The New York orchestra has scheduled a press conference to introduce him on February 20.

Dudamel is one of the few directors who in recent years have captured the attention of the general public.

A character from Amazon's

appeared to be based on Dudamel, who directed the soundtrack

for Steven Spielberg's 2021

.

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Dudamel made his New York Philharmonic debut in November 2007. He has conducted the orchestra 26 times and is scheduled to conduct three performances of Mahler's Ninth Symphony May 19-21.

Gustavo Dudamel at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Homecoming Concert & Gala, California on October 9.

2021. Richard Shotwell / Invision/AP

“His contagious joy and his deep musicality and humanism connect with the public,” said Borda de Dudamel.

Borda, who is retiring as general director of the New York Philharmonic at the end of the current season, was the Los Angeles orchestra's general director when she hired Dudamel to succeed Esa-Pekka Salonen as music director in the 2009-2009 season. 10.

“I remember the first day we tried to hire him: he didn't even have a representative.

And look at how he has progressed since then,” Borda said.

"I haven't seen a director like that since Bernstein."

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Borda, who returned to New York in 2017 for his second tenure, will be succeeded by Gary Ginstling, who has led the Washington National Symphony Orchestra since 2017.

“He was really the only director who could be transformative for the future of this institution,” Ginstling said of Dudamel.

"He will be able to appeal to new audiences and younger audiences and a broader range of audiences."

Dudamel emerged from Venezuela's music education program known as “El Sistema” and earned praise for his work with young musicians.

He won the Gustav Mahler Directing Competition in 2004. Although Dudamel initially refused to discuss Venezuela's economic and political turmoil, in 2017 he criticized his country's government for cracking down on protests.

The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, then canceled the tours of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra in the United States.

Dudamel's contract with Los Angeles was extended through 2025-26 three years ago, and his 17 seasons with LA will tie Salonen for the longest helming that orchestra.

Dudamel earned $775,000 from the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the COVID-affected year ending Sept. 30, 2021, down from $3.55 million a year earlier, according to the orchestra's tax returns.

He signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon in 2005. Borda said that details such as recordings and how many weeks per season Dudamel will commit to will be announced at the press conference.