From Foo Fighters to LA Children’s Choir: Inside Dudamel’s genre-bending send-off

From August 20th to the 23rd, the Hollywood Bowl will bring out the Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as a litany of vaunted musicians in honor of their Music and Artistic Director, Gustavo Dudamel.

The weekend quartet marks Dudamel’s 17th anniversary with the LA Philharmonic, as well as his last concert series with the ensemble. To start the set will be a world premiere of Michael Giacchino’s Hymns of the Heart. Taking on the role of narrator is Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history. That evening will also feature the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Members of the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC).

Later that evening, the concert will move to Dudamel’s interpretation of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, largely for its culminating fourth movement, Ode to Joy. When asked what the theme of the series was, Artistic Director of the LACC Fernando Malvar-Ruiz said, “Joyful. And if you want to add a second one, beautiful.”

The second evening, the 21st, brings Gustavo’s Fiesta, featuring Mexican and Latin artists. Norteño band Los Tigres del Norte, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Lila Downs, and the first all-woman mariachi group Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles will lead the night, as a nod to his Venezuelan roots.

The third night, the 22nd, will feature the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducting the Foo Fighters.

Finally, Sunday the 23rd features several ensembles brought together to raise relief funds in response to the earthquakes that struck northern Venezuela in June. All donations are to be forwarded to the United Nations Development Program relief fund.

The Hollywood Bowl’s Dudamel series has tickets for the 20th, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd that start at $12, $44, $215, and $15, respectively, available at my.hollywoodbowl.com.

As Dudamel’s culminating series and celebration of his history with the LA Philharmonic, each night represents a different facet of the conductor’s appreciation for life. From the first evening spotlighting younger voices in music to the final night, a fundraiser for victims of the earthquakes in northern Venezuela earlier this year. Soon, the conductor will be with the New York Philharmonic.

As Malvar-Ruiz puts it, “Create a new ensemble, if you believe that that is going to serve the performer better.” Music is a form of expression, and in “service of the performer,” said Malvar-Ruiz. For Dudamel, the New York Philharmonic offers a new set of voices and players, as well as the possibility to change his sound.

For the LACC, it offers several of its performers the chance to play in the biggest venue they’ve seen yet. Practicing at Pasadena Presbyterian Church, the nine ensembles offer a voice to a range of talents, including the concert choir present at Dudamel’s farewell series of concerts.

The LACC’s mission is to give a voice to children throughout Los Angeles and to serve them socially.

‘Permanence in the arts is not an accident.’ – Stephania Ramirez

“The thing about choir is that the strength is in the group, right? The collective. You never feel alone when you are part of a choir. You have somebody at your left, somebody at your right,” said Malvar-Ruiz.

One of the ensembles, the mixed choral, was created to allow different voices that normally wouldn’t come together into an environment where they could continue to connect.

Another is the changing voices ensemble, a relatively new addition to the lineup. At times, the LACC wouldn’t offer choral positions to singers undergoing puberty, as their voices often changed. Now, those same singers are offered a place in an ensemble with music tailored to their abilities.

In the future, the LACC is partnering with programs such as Hearts of Los Angeles to create choirs that practice closer to the singers’ homes. Lafayette Park is an example.

“If I could have all the children in LA singing in a choir, I would be very happy,” said Malvar-Ruiz.

This may be made more possible by their recent grant, the largest in program history, from the Perenchio Foundation. The $2,040,000 grant will allow those same programs to continue to expand.

As stated by Perenchio Foundation CEO Stephania Ramirez, “Permanence in the arts is not an accident. What we are investing in is not a program or a season. It is the infrastructure behind the work.”

With growing community support and the ability to host leading artists, such as Dudamel’s farewell series, LACC aims to make voices available to more and more individuals. Together, they raise more artists to their full potential.