With a wide array of accents and a distinctively L.A. feel, a rainbow coalition of musical acts and a fired-up Hollywood Bowl crowd welcomed Gustavo Dudamel on Saturday night to his new position as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
The 28-year-old conductor, who arrived in town earlier this week, was naturally the piece de resistance of the five-hour free concert, dubbed "?Bienvenido Gustavo!" in his honor. He concluded the evening in rousing fashion, conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Master Chorale in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.
After taking his initial bow at the end of the symphony, Dudamel locked arms with his musicians and soloists to acknowledge the waves of applause. Then he addressed the crowd in English and Spanish, saying, "This is a very special moment for my life."
Alluding to the theme of universal brotherly harmony expressed in Beethoven's masterpiece, Dudamel also spoke of the importance of unity in the Western Hemisphere, which he described as "our complete continent together, not north and south."
"I'm very proud to be Latino, Venezuelan," he said. "I'm very proud to be a South American. But I'm very proud to be American."
The concluding fireworks over the Hollywood Bowl spelled out "Bienvenido Gustavo," as the conductor led his orchestra in the evening's third and final rendition of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy."
The tumultuous Ninth capped a program that spanned classical, jazz, gospel, pop, rock, Cuban and Latin regional music, performed mostly in English and occasionally in Spanish, by both professional musicians and polished student amateurs. Sometimes the two jammed together, as in a program of Stevie Wonder tunes by bassist Flea of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers leading students from his Silver Lake Conservatory of Music.
"Music education for the children! Arts for the children!" Flea yelled to thunderous cheers at the end of the group's set.
Youth arts education, a particular passion of Dudamel's, was a leitmotif of the evening. As the star pupil and apotheosis of Venezuela's national music education program, El Sistema, Dudamel already has staked out a commitment to working with L.A. youth. He demonstrated that Saturday night by conducting the year-old Youth Orchestra L.A. in a portion of the "Ode to Joy."
