Gustavo Dudamel became an officer of the Order of Arts and Letters
The conductor was honored by President Macron on Saturday night after a performance of Tosca that opened the Paris Opera’s new season.
Gustavo Dudamel he comes from Venezuela, where he became a music director at the age of just eighteen Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. He won in 2004 Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition organized Bamber Symphony Orchestra. In 2009, he was appointed chief conductor Los Angeles Philharmonic and still works in this position today. AGAINST Paris Opera debuted in 2017. Last April, it was announced that Dudamel will become the musical director of this prestigious stage on August 1, 2021, with a six-season contract.
French Order of Arts and Letters, which is awarded by the French Ministry of Culture not only to French citizens for significant merits in the cultural field, Gustavo Dudamel has already received it once. This happened in 2009, when he was made a “knight” of the Order of Arts and Literature before he was even thirty years old. At the same time, French citizens, unlike foreigners, are awarded this distinction only from the age of thirty.
Dudamel has now been promoted to “officer” of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French President Emmanuel Macronand that on Saturday after the performance of Puccini’s opera Tosca, the Paris Opera has already started a new season. Dudamel’s home orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, immediately congratulated its boss on social media:
“Please join in our most sincere congratulations to our Music and Artistic Director who has been made an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters by France. It is a much deserved honor,” the American orchestra said on Twitter.
Photo: Profimedia