January 25, 2007 -

Ottawa (Canada) -- One of the most highly anticipated concerts of the season will take place at the end of this month when Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, whose electricity on the podium won him the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in Germany in 2004, makes his Canadian debut with the National Arts Centre Orchestra. The 26-year-old Dudamel will lead the musicians in Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, which he recently recorded for his first CD as an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist. What is more the young sensation will lead NAC Orchestra Music Director Pinchas Zukerman, arguably the finest viola player in the world, in Bartók’s Viola Concert. Zukerman, who has followed Dudamel’s rise since 2004, and performed in concert with him in Portugal last March, says: “Gustavo is one of the most brilliant talents I’ve witnessed in many generations – he is the REAL thing.” Barber’s Adagio for Strings will open these Ovation Series concerts on Wednesday, January 31 and Thursday, February 1 at 20:00 in the NAC’s Southam Hall.

Pinchas Zukerman is the special guest speaker in Pre-Concert Talks at 19:00 in the Panorama Room both nights hosted by CBC Radio Two network host Eric Friesen of CBC’s Studio Sparks. Freisen and Zukerman will discuss the Bartók Viola Concerto in a live version of their acclaimed ten-part radio series “The Concerto According to Pinchas”.

Gustavo Dudamel led the Los Angeles Philharmonic earlier this month in sold-out concerts that prompted the L.A. Times to write: “He is, as I am certain everyone in Disney instantly realized, a phenomenon. No classes in music appreciation are necessary to recognize this kind of charisma, which has laws of its own…. Dudamel does not appear to be leading the orchestra or even interacting with it. He is the orchestra, or is at least as one with it.”

And the L.A. Weekly described Dudamel as “not merely the latest package to tumble off the prodigy assembly line, young Gustavo is an authentic talent. He knows what he’s doing, is greatly gifted in conveying that knowledge to the people around him and, better yet, seems uncommonly able to make those people work with him.”

Gustavo Dudamel was born in 1981 in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. He initially studied violin at the Jacinto Lara Conservatory and at the Latin American Academy of Violin, but in 1996 he began conducting studies and the same year was named Music Director of the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra. Under José Antonio Abreu’s tutelage and inspiration he subsequently became Music Director of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela. In this position, he conducts around 60 performances per season. The youth orchestra system in Venezuela, widely praised for its social contributions to the Venezuelan and Latin American young people, celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2005 and encompasses a music and social programme for over 250,000 young Venezuelans who begin their musical instruction at three years of age.

His rise has been phenomenal. He has forged close ties with his mentors Simon Rattle (to whom he is often compared), Claudio Abbado and Daniel Barenboim. He made his U.S. debut in 2005 at the Hollywood Bowl; he conducted Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni at La Scala Milan last fall, and he will make his New York Philharmonic debut later this year and his debut at New York’s Carnegie Hall, as a part of the 2007 Berlin Philharmonic Residency. In addition to his Venezuelan Youth Orchestra directorship, he will next season become Principal Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (the National Orchestra of Sweden).

Tickets for these Ovation Series concerts on Wednesday, January 31 and Thursday, February 1 at 20:00 are on sale now at $18.82, $38.64, $58.45, 68.36 with box seats at $82.22 (6% GST and Facility Fee included) at the NAC Box Office (Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00), and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at 613-755-1111. Ticketmaster may also be accessed through the NAC’s website at www.nac-cna.ca.

Half-price tickets for students in all sections of the hall are on sale in person at the NAC Box Office upon presentation of a valid student ID card. Same-day Live Rush tickets (subject to availability) for full-time students (aged 13 to 29) are $10 at the NAC Box Office between 14:00 and 18:00 on the day of performance only, upon presentation of a valid Live Rush card.

Groups of 10 and more save 15% to 20% off the regular price of tickets to NAC Music, Theatre and Dance performances. To reserve your seats call 947-7000 ext. 384 or email grp@nac-cna.ca.

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For more information please contact:
Jane Morris, Communications Officer,
National Arts Centre Orchestra
(613) 947-7000, ext. 335
jmorris@nac-cna.ca