Ravinia 2024 Issue 4

Dudamel gets the National Children’s Symphony of Venezuela physically engaged in a rehearsal, similar to a moment described in New York where he explained the feel of a moment of music: “We need something that goes with the nature of the body.” High School, Merit School of Music, and Midwest Young Artists Conservato- ry (MYA). Dudamel is leading a similar event during the New York stopover at Carnegie Hall. The morning event is a kind of follow-up to Ravinia’s second National Seminario, which ran July 7–10 and brought together 130 students from El Sistema programs across the United States, Canada, Greece, Mexico, and Sweden. Under the tutelage of Marin Alsop, Ravinia’s Chief Conductor, and Lead Seminario Conductor Jessica Al- tarriba, the young musicians participat- ed in highly focused orchestral training and presented a culminating concert on the Pavilion stage side-by-side with their mentor musicians from the National Orchestra Institute + Festival. Finlandia was one of the event’s featured works. That Dudamel is leading the Nation- al Children’s Symphony of Venezuela’s North American tour and presiding over the August 7 rehearsal/workshop is hardly surprising considering his deep ties to El Sistema and his tireless work to ensure that other musically gifted youth, no matter their socio-economic stand- ing, get the same opportunities he did. To that end, he played a key role in the 2007 founding of the Youth Or- chestra Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Philharmonic in partnership with the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and the Parks and Harmony Project. Ac- cording to the Philharmonic’s website, it now serves nearly 1,700 young musi- cians in five under-resourced neigh- borhoods across the city, providing free instruments, musical instruction, and academic support. Dudamel continues to work extensively with YOLA, includ- ing an appearance by him and members of the ensemble during the 2016 Super Bowl halftime show alongside pop stars Coldplay, Beyoncé, and Bruno Mars. “When you give an instrument to a young person who doesn’t have any hope, you are giving a world of possibil- ities,” Dudamel said on the Los Angeles Philharmonic video. “In music, you have to listen to each other. You have to create harmony with other instruments. You have to listen differently. And when you apply that in society, you are a different person. You are a different human being.” The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s $14.5 million Beckman YOLA Center opened in 2021 in Inglewood, CA, with a 272-seat concert hall and rehearsal spaces. The space, in a converted bank building, was designed by acclaimed architect Frank Gehry, who also crafted Disney Hall and Millennium Park’s sleek Pritzker Pavilion. “It is not only an orchestra,” Dudamel said of YOLA in the Philharmonic video. “It is not only a music school. This is a program for hope and inspi- ration. I believe that music plays a very important role in the times that we live in. For us as artists, as musicians, it’s a very important message that music is more than just entertainment. It has the power to transform society because it unites, it heals, because it allows us to be connected to beauty that is essential in the world we live in.” An April 2024 story in the New York Times provided a glimpse at Dudamel’s teaching methods and suggested what the young participants at Ravinia might expect on August 7. It described the maestro working with a group of stu- dents in New York on an excerpt from Bernstein’s famed musical, West Side Story . (Yet another tie between Dudamel and his celebrated predecessor.) “ Oy yo yo yo yo yo yo ,” said the conductor during the rehearsal. “You are not dancing together.” According to the article, he then explained that they needed a more precise rhythm and sound and even moved around the stage to suggest the feel of the strut- ting, self-assured gang members in the musical. “This is cool, really cool music,” he said, eliciting laughter. “We need something that goes with the nature of the body.” In keeping with everything he has done to date in his career, Dudamel has vowed to expand the New York Philharmonic’s presence in schools and in the community when he takes over the orchestra in 2026. Dudamel said in the Times article that his aim was not to start a version of YOLA in New York but to deepen partnerships with schools and community programs so that the Philharmonic could become “something that represents the desires, the dreams, the values of young people.” “We will not save classical music by selling tickets in a certain way,” he said. “No. It’s really about making the institu- tion a part of the community in a very deep way.” Kyle MacMillan served as classical music critic for the Denver Post from 2000 through 2011. He currently freelances in Chicago, writing for such publications as the Chicago Sun-Times , Early Music America , Opera News , and Classical Voice of North America . RAVINIA.ORG  • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 25 NOHELYOLIVEROS