Who is Gustavo Dudamel, Grammy-winning Venezuelan conductor?

3 February 2025, 15:34 | Updated: 3 February 2025, 15:38

Meet Grammy-winning Venezuelan maestro Gustavo Dudamel, affectionately known as ‘The Dude’, who is soon to be music director of America’s oldest symphony orchestra.

Music comes alive in the hands of Gustavo Dudamel, the Venezuelan conductor firing up audiences and musicians with his energy, passion and commitment to the music (and of course, his exceptional head of hair).

Since 2009, Dudamel has had a long and successful tenure with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, who signed the young conductor at just 26 years old. He has also been artistic director of his home country’s Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra since 1999.

With a unique ability to communicate joy to mass audiences, Dudamel has become a rare pop culture icon in classical music. He appeared on Sesame Street in February 2012, in a sketch where he compares the word ‘Stupendous’ to Elmo by conducting an all-penguin choir singing Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’.

At the beginning of the 2026 season, Dudamel will become music director of America’s oldest symphony orchestra, the New York Philharmonic.

He once said: “Music is energy. You cannot see the music, you cannot touch the music. You only listen and you receive. Music can change completely your life.” Let’s find out more about this once-in-a-generation musical talent...

Read more: When Dudamel played violin and Perlman conducted, in a reverse duet

Gustavo Dudamel conducts the L.A. Philharmonic in Tchaikovsky's 'Hamlet'

Where did Gustavo Dudamel learn music?

Gustavo Dudamel was born on 26 January 1981 in Barquisimeto, Venezuela into a musical family – his father was a trombonist in a salsa band, and his mother a singing teacher.

He studied music from an early age, becoming involved with El Sistema, the famous Venezuelan musical education programme, and took up the violin at age ten. He continued his education at the Latin American Academy of Violin.

Dudamel began to study conducting aged just 15. That same year, in 1996, he was given his first position as Music Director of the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra.

He has made music with some of the classical world’s starriest names; in 2003, he worked as an assistant to Sir Simon Rattle in Berlin and Salzburg.

What is El Sistema and how is Gustavo Dudamel involved in it?

El Sistema, the largest social and musical organisation in the world, was conceived by Venezuelan conductor and composer Jose Antonio Abreu (pictured below with Dudamel).

Dudamel was Abreu’s protégé, who after enrolling in El Sistema as a child, became conductor of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, a product of El Sistema. In the mid 90s, Abreu formed the National Children’s Youth Orchestra, and many young musicians graduated from it to the Simón Bolívar.

Under Dudamel’s leadership the LA Phil expanded its outreach through many projects, most notably Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) which brings music to underprivileged children. It has inspired similar efforts throughout the United States, as well as for programs in Sweden and Scotland.

What is Gustavo Dudamel best known for?

Gustavo Dudamel is best known for conducting orchestras all over the world, and spreading the message of classical music and music-making.

In 1999, he was appointed Music Director of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra.

In September 2009, Dudamel was announced as the new music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, who welcomed the 26-year-old in a gala celebration at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. He has since been named Musical America’s Musician of the Year, one of the highest honours in the classical music industry.

Dudamel made his film score composing debut in 2013, writing the music for Libertador, a biopic of the life of Simón Bolívar, and recording the soundtrack with the Simón Bolívar Orchestra. In 2021, Dudamel was credited as conductor for the score of West Side Story, Steven Spielberg’s film remake of the 1957 musical.

For two years, Dudamel was music director of the Paris Opera but resigned from the role for ‘personal reasons’.

In 2026, he will take up the podium at the New York Philharmonic as the renowned orchestra’s new music director.

Gustavo Dudamel and Elmo - Stupendous

Who are Gustavo Dudamel’s family and wife?

Gustavo Dudamel has been married to Spanish actress María Valverde since 2017.

He was previously married to Eloísa Maturén, who in 2012 helped the Venezuelan conductor launch The Dudamel Foundation, which is dedicated to furthering music education and social justice around the world. The two had a son, Martín Dudamel, in 2011, but divorced in 2015.

In 2019, four days before he turned 38, Dudamel received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Now a five-time Grammy winner, in 2025 Dudamel, composer Gabriela Ortiz and the LA Philharmonic took home three Grammys for their recording of ‘Revolución Diamantina’.