Gustavo DudamelBirth Chart

Gustavo Dudamel Ramírez is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist. He is currently the principal conductor of the Orquestra Sinfónica de Gotemburgo, Sweden, and the music director of the Orquestra Filarmônica de Los Angeles, United States.

He is the son of a trombonist and of a singing teacher. In a city steeped in music, he studied from a young age after becoming involved with El Sistema, the renowned Venezuelan music education program. Thus, at ten he began studying violin and composition. He entered the Conservatório Jacinto Lara, under the tutelage of José Luis Jiménez, and then became musically involved with José Francisco del Castillo at the Academia de Violino Latino-Americana.

He began studying conducting in 1995, first with Rodolfo Saglimbeni, then with José Antonio Abreu. In 1999 he was appointed music director of the Orquestra Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, the national youth orchestra of Venezuela, touring several countries. Given this visibility, Dudamel began winning various conducting competitions, including the German Gustav Mahler Conducting Prize in 200. His reputation spread rapidly, attracting attention from conductors such as Simon Rattle and Claudio Abbado, who accepted invitations to perform with the Simón Bolívar in Venezuela.

Dudamel debuted with several orchestras in 2005, including Orquestra Philharmonia, Orquestra Filarmônica de Israel and Orquestra Filarmônica de Los Angeles, and signed a contract with Deutsche Grammophon.