Gustavo Dudamel, the fastest rising young conductor in the world makes his Canadian debut

Summary: Gustavo Dudamel, the fastest rising young conductor in the world makes his Canadian debut leading Beethoven's Fifth and Bartók's Viola Concerto played by Pinchas Zukerman on January 31-February 1

Gustavo Dudamel, the fastest rising young conductor in the world makes his Canadian
debut leading Beethoven's Fifth and Bartók's Viola Concerto played by Pinchas
Zukerman on January 31-February 1

One of the most highly anticipated concerts of the season will
take place at the end of this month when Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, whose
electricity on the podium won him the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in
Germany in 2004, makes his Canadian debut with the National Arts Centre Orchestra.
The 26-year-old Dudamel will lead the musicians in Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, which
he recently recorded for his first CD as an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist.
What is more the young sensation will lead NAC Orchestra Music Director Pinchas
Zukerman, arguably the finest viola player in the world, in Bartók's Viola Concert.
Zukerman, who has followed Dudamel's rise since 2004, and performed in concert with
him in Portugal last March, says: "Gustavo is one of the most brilliant talents I've
witnessed in many generations - he is the REAL thing." Barber's Adagio for Strings
will open these Ovation Series concerts on Wednesday, January 31 and Thursday,
February 1 at 20:00 in the NAC's Southam Hall.

Pinchas Zukerman is the special guest speaker in Pre-Concert Talks at 19:00 in the
Panorama Room both nights hosted by CBC Radio Two network host Eric Friesen of CBC's
Studio Sparks. Freisen and Zukerman will discuss the Bartók Viola Concerto in a live
version of their acclaimed ten-part radio series "The Concerto According to
Pinchas".

Gustavo Dudamel led the Los Angeles Philharmonic earlier this month in sold-out
concerts that prompted the L.A. Times to write: "He is, as I am certain everyone in
Disney instantly realized, a phenomenon. No classes in music appreciation are
necessary to recognize this kind of charisma, which has laws of its own.... Dudamel
does not appear to be leading the orchestra or even interacting with it. He is the
orchestra, or is at least as one with it."

And the L.A. Weekly described Dudamel as "not merely the latest package to tumble
off the prodigy assembly line, young Gustavo is an authentic talent. He knows what
he's doing, is greatly gifted in conveying that knowledge to the people around him
and, better yet, seems uncommonly able to make those people work with him."

Gustavo Dudamel was born in 1981 in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. He initially studied
violin at the Jacinto Lara Conservatory and at the Latin American Academy of Violin,
but in 1996 he began conducting studies and the same year was named Music Director
of the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra. Under José Antonio Abreu's tutelage and
inspiration he subsequently became Music Director of the Simón Bolívar Youth
Orchestra of Venezuela. In this position, he conducts around 60 performances per
season. The youth orchestra system in Venezuela, widely praised for its social
contributions to the Venezuelan and Latin American young people, celebrated its 30th
anniversary in 2005 and encompasses a music and social programme for over 250,000
young Venezuelans who begin their musical instruction at three years of age.

His rise has been phenomenal. He has forged close ties with his mentors Simon Rattle
(to whom he is often compared), Claudio Abbado and Daniel Barenboim. He made his
U.S. debut in 2005 at the Hollywood Bowl; he conducted Mozart's opera Don Giovanni
at La Scala Milan last fall, and he will make his New York Philharmonic debut later
this year and his debut at New York's Carnegie Hall, as a part of the 2007 Berlin
Philharmonic Residency. In addition to his Venezuelan Youth Orchestra directorship,
he will next season become Principal Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
(the National Orchestra of Sweden).

Tickets for these Ovation Series concerts on Wednesday, January 31 and Thursday,
February 1 at 20:00 are on sale now at $18.82, $38.64, $58.45, 68.36 with box seats
at $82.22 (6% GST and Facility Fee included) at the NAC Box Office (Monday to
Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00), and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at
613-755-1111. Ticketmaster may also be accessed through the NAC's website at
www.nac-cna.ca <http://www.nac-cna.ca/> .

Half-price tickets for students in all sections of the hall are on sale in person at
the NAC Box Office upon presentation of a valid student ID card. Same-day Live Rush
tickets (subject to availability) for full-time students (aged 13 to 29) are $10 at
the NAC Box Office between 14:00 and 18:00 on the day of performance only, upon
presentation of a valid Live Rush card.

www.nac-cna.ca
www.artsalive.ca

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