Gustavo Dudamel Brings Art and Soul to L.A.

Gustavo Dudamel has wrapped up his first month as the new conductor and musical director of the Los Angele's Philharmonic. He is the newest star in Hollywood. The 28-year-old Dudamel is the product of Venezuela’s El Sistema.

El Sistema is one of the most successful and longest running social assistance program in the country. It is a voluntary youth music-education program, which began in 1975 by economist José Antonio Abreu. Abreu who has worked as a politician, economist, educator, as well as a classical pianist, believes that an orchestra represents the ideal society. And the sooner children are nurtured by music; they will grow to transform a society for the better.

The music program flourished under Abreu for 34 years, in spite of the various conservative and socialist parties that governed the country. El Sistema is responsible for 125 youth orchestras across the country and educates 250,000 students yearly, 90% of them coming from lowest rung of the economic ladder. It is credited with rescuing young people from lives of violence and drugs, and lifting them out of poverty. Many of El Sistema’s students have gone on to have international music careers.

In his acceptance for the B'nai B'rith Human Rights Award in 2008 Abreu said, "In the struggle for Human Rights, let us vigorously incorporate children's sublime right to music, in whose bosom shines Beingness in its splendor and its ineffable mystery. Let us reveal to our children the beauty of music and music shall reveal to our children the beauty of life."

Below is a performance of Dudamel conducting one of the most advanced of El Sistema’s orchestras, The Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra, made up of Venezuela’s top high school musicians. The video comes from this years TED conference, shortly before Dudamel took his post in Los Angeles.