Another special presentation was held at the Belltower Theaters in Ft. Myers last night. This was a showing of the LA Philharmonic performing with the Simon Bolivar National Symphony in Venezuela and conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.Fresh off a Grammy win for Best Orchestral Performance for Brahm's Symphony No. 4, famed conductor Gustavo Dudamel headed to his home country of Venezuela to perform with the LA Philharmonic. They not only performed but gave a boost to the famous Venezuelan music teaching program known as "El Sistema." Dudamel is a product of the program, which has brought music education to over 250,000 children throughout the barrios of Venezuela. No one is turned away.
The sold-out performance (the program was also broadcast live on television) took place in the Teresa Carreno Theater in Caracas. The program was part of the month long Mahler Project, with a number of Mahler's symphonies performed in Venezuela by the Simon Bolivar National Symphony, a number of the symphonies performed at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles by the LA Philharmonic, culminating with the LA Phil travelling to Caracas for a combined performance of Mahler 8 - A Symphony Of A Thousand. Joining the 200 members of both symphonies were over 1,000 children and adult choir members, and 7 vocal soloists.
This was the first time the LA Philharmonic had performed in Venezuela, and Dudamel, the son of a trombonist and a voice teacher, now in his third year as the LA Phil's music director, said it was a dream for him to lead both orchestras.
Dudamel is a national hero in Venezuela, as is Teresa Carreno. She played piano and sang for Abraham Lincoln at the White House during the Civil War in 1863.
