NEC to Present Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, Brilliant Young Conductor Gustavo Dudamel in Residency, Nov. 7--8
Gustavo Dudamel (Sylvia Lelli photo)
For Immediate Release:
April 2, 2007
The Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, under its brilliant young maestro Gustavo Dudamel, will participate in a two-day Boston residency Nov. 7—8, as part of its first American tour. The visit will feature the orchestra’s debut concert at Boston’s Symphony Hall, Nov. 7, followed by a day of chamber music, masterclasses, workshops and outreach culminating in a Jordan Hall concert with New England Conservatory students. The Conservatory is presenting the orchestra in association with the Celebrity Series of Boston and the Boston Symphony Orchestra—-a first-time collaboration between these three musical institutions.
At its Symphony Hall concert, the SBYOV will perform the Bartok Concerto for Orchestra, Bernstein Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, and a selection of Music from Latin America. Program details for remaining performances will be announced at a later date.
Tickets for the Symphony Hall concert are available for purchase by subscribers to the Celebrity Series and BSO and will shortly go on sale for individual purchase at Symphony Hall, NEC's Jordan Hall and through the Celebrity Series. For more information, click here To receive a season brochure from the Celebrity Series, visit the website. To receive the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s season brochure, visit the BSO website To contact the NEC Box Office, visit the NEC website or call 617-585-1260.
The SBYOV is the flagship ensemble of Venezuela’s 31-year old National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras, a monumental program of music education that serves over 250,000 children and young adults, most of whom live in impoverished conditions. It was founded by José Antonio Abreu, an economist, organist and politician, who saw in the discipline of musical training and the communal spirit of the orchestral an opportunity to transform children’s lives.
From a start of 11 children rehearsing in a parking garage, the program has grown exponentially. Today, El Sistema, as it is familiarly known, is budgeted by the federal government at $29 million, employs 15,000 music teachers, operates 90 music schools, and feeds into 30 professional symphony orchestras within Venezuela alone. Some of its alumni have made international careers, like Dudamel—who won the 2004 Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition, regularly leads the world’s major orchestras, and was recently named successor to Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen at the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
For many years, New England Conservatory has been informally supporting El Sistema and in 2005 signed a friendship agreement celebrating the relationship. The school regularly sends faculty—including violinist Donald Weilerstein, pianist Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, violinist Marylou Speaker Churchill, Preparatory School Dean Mark Churchill--to coach the young musicians. NEC has also has organized two tours of Venezuela by its Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, and jointly created the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, which enlists young instrumentalists from throughout the North and South American continents to rehearse, play and tour together. The YOA most recently toured European festivals in summer 2006.
Not only has El Sistema improved the socio-economic lives of Venezuela’s children, it has also become a beacon of artistic excellence and spiritual transcendence. Some of the world’s greatest musicians, such as Claudio Abbado, Placido Domingo, and others make regular visits to conduct and coach the young players and come away deeply moved. On European tours, the Bolivar orchestra has been received with rapturous acclaim. (Click here to read review of August concert at Edinburgh Festival) And its recordings, most notably the recently issued Deutsche Grammophon CD of Beethoven’s Fifth and Seventh Symphonies, have received universal praise. Sir Simon Rattle, music director of the Berlin Philharmonic, asserts that “There is no more important work being done in music now than is being done in Venezuela.”
SBYOV, which is visiting North America for the first time, will perform in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Miami and New York City. In New York, Carnegie Hall will host the orchestra in a joint residency with the Berlin Philharmonic and Rattle.
ABOUT NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY
Recognized nationally and internationally as a leader among music schools, New England Conservatory offers rigorous training in an intimate, nurturing community to 750 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral music students from around the world. Its faculty of 225 boasts internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars. Its alumni go on to fill orchestra chairs, concert hall stages, jazz clubs, recording studios, and arts management positions worldwide. Nearly half of the Boston Symphony Orchestra is composed of NEC trained musicians and faculty.
The oldest independent school of music in the United States, NEC was founded in 1867 by Eben Tourjee. Its curriculum is remarkable for its wide range of styles and traditions. On the college level, it features training in classical, jazz, Contemporary Improvisation, world and early music. Through its Preparatory School, School of Continuing Education, and Community Collaboration Programs, it provides training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students, adults, and seniors. Through its outreach projects, it allows young musicians to engage with non-traditional audiences in schools, hospitals, and nursing homes—thereby bringing pleasure to new listeners and enlarging the universe for classical music and jazz.
NEC presents more than 600 free concerts each year, many of them in Jordan Hall, its world- renowned, 100-year old, beautifully restored concert hall. These programs range from solo recitals to chamber music to orchestral programs to jazz and opera scenes. Every year, NEC’s opera studies department also presents two fully staged opera productions at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston.
NEC is co-founder and educational partner of “From the Top,” a weekly radio program that celebrates outstanding young classical musicians from the entire country. With its broadcast home in Jordan Hall, the show is now carried by National Public Radio and is heard on 250 stations throughout the United States.
Contact: Ellen Pfeifer
Public Relations Manager
New England Conservatory
617-585-1143
epfeifer@newenglandconservatory.edu