Gustavo Dudamel’s final Hollywood Bowl concert will benefit Venezuela after earthquakes
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- Gustavo Dudamel’s final Hollywood Bowl appearance as L.A. Phil music director will double as “A Concert for Venezuela,” raising funds for communities devastated by June’s twin earthquakes.
- Dudamel and the orchestra’s musicians will donate their services, while the L.A. Phil pledges $50,000 to an earthquake recovery fund.
- The benefit caps a four-night “Celebrating Gustavo at the Bowl” series as the Venezuelan-born conductor prepares to leave Los Angeles for New York after 17 years.
Gustavo Dudamel’s farewell to Los Angeles will also function as a benefit for his homeland of Venezuela, which suffered catastrophic losses from twin earthquakes in late June.
Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic announced Monday that the beloved composer’s final Hollywood Bowl performance as the orchestra’s music and artistic director, originally programmed as “Celebrating Gustavo at the Bowl: A Musical Legacy,” will instead be called “A Concert for Venezuela.” Still scheduled for Aug. 23, the show will raise funds for communities affected by the earthquakes.
“Venezuela will always be my home, and every moment, my thoughts are with the families whose lives have been forever changed by this tragedy,” Dudamel said in a statement. “The suffering is immense, but so is the strength and resilience of our people. This concert at the Hollywood Bowl is an invitation to stand together and transform our compassion into action.”
A full program and special guests will be announced later. Dudamel and the musicians will contribute their time and services free of charge.
As Gustavo Dudamel begins his final weeks in Walt Disney Concert Hall as L.A. Phil music director, he talks about what lies ahead and how he got there.
Donations will benefit Dudamel’s Earthquake Recovery to Support Venezuelan Communities fund, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean fund. The L.A. Phil will contribute $50,000 to the fund, announced President and Chief Executive Kim Noltemy.
“In moments of profound need, our responsibility as an institution extends beyond the stage,” she said. “We are grateful for the opportunity to provide direct financial support to relief efforts for communities in Venezuela with a $50,000 charitable donation and to stand alongside Gustavo in bringing this concert to life at the Bowl.”
Twin earthquakes on June 24 devastated Venezuela, with more than 3,300 deaths and more than 30,000 people reported missing. As international rescue teams depart and locals are left to search through rubble, Venezuelans abroad, including L.A. restaurants, have looked for ways to send support.
Dudamel, who was born and raised in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, wrote in a 2015 op-ed for The Times that he is a “product” of El Sistema, the country’s government-funded youth music program. He has been the music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra since 1999.
