Gustavo Dudamel: “We will explore the relationship between art and the issues of our times.”
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‘Rock star’ sets the tempo in a range of roles

Celebrated conductor Gustavo Dudamel will be on campus three times during the academic year as artist-in-residence with Princeton University Concerts (PUC), which is marking its 125th anniversary. 

The “rock star” music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the inspiration for the Amazon series Mozart in the Jungle, Dudamel will curate three chamber concerts that feature ensembles from orchestras he has been associated with. He will conduct the University Orchestra and Glee Club in two programs in April.

Dudamel will partner with a number of Princeton groups, including the Center for Human Values and the University Art Museum. Events include a collaboration with Trenton Music Makers ­­— the local branch of El Sistema, a free program in classical music founded in Venezuela for poor children, which has played an important role in Dudamel’s life.

“We will explore the relationship between art and the issues of our times, and connect the University with the young people of its surrounding community through music,” the conductor said. 

The anniversary season also features performances by vocalist Bobby McFerrin Sept. 21 and by mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato March 10. Crossroads, a new series, highlights music’s ability to tell stories; it includes a song cycle by singer-songwriter Gabriel Kahane that draws from a two-week train trip he took across the United States beginning the morning after the 2016 presidential election. 

More information can be found at princetonuniversityconcerts.org.