Encuentros
A champion of the belief in music's power to unite and inspire, Gustavo Dudamel created the idea of Encuentros (English: “encounters”) through his Foundation in 2018 as a way for young people to explore cultural unity and celebrate harmony, equality, dignity, beauty, and respect through music. Through this vision, Encuentros inspires and teaches a new generation of young leaders to build a better world.
“There are many programs to learn how to make music, but to be better people and better musicians for our society, very few and this is definitely one of them. ”
Encuentros LA
Los Angeles, CA 2022
Under the leadership of Gustavo Dudamel and María Valverde, the Dudamel Foundation and the LA Phil co-presented LA Encuentros 2022, their first Encuentros (Encounters) in the United States, July 19–August 6, 2022. In honor of the Hollywood Bowl’s first 100 seasons, over 100 top-tier young musicians (ages 18–26) from the Americas and around the world—from 34 youth orchestra and El Sistema-inspired programs in 23 countries—will work side-by-side in the Encuentros Orchestra.
Capping the two-week orchestral training festival, Gustavo Dudamel, the Encuentros Orchestra and members of YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles) were joined by multi-Grammy-winning vocalist, bassist and composer esperanza spalding—who recently took home a 2022 Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album.
Encuentros España
Spain 2021
The Dudamel Foundation presents its first European Encuentros in Spain in June 2021 in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the State Secretary for International Cooperation of Spain.
The Foundation is brought together students from the Americas — México, the United States, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, Perú, and Nicaragua — and Spain to work together side-by-side in the Orquesta del Encuentro con Dudamel. Workshops and concerts were conducted by Gustavo with additional sectionals and masterclasses led by a faculty of musicians from the world’s leading orchestras. These mentors will provided the young Dudamel Foundation Artists with musical and leadership training before departing on a cultural community concert tour throughout Spain in June 2021.
Encuentros:
YOLA’s First International Tour
Mexico City, Mexico, 2019
As part of the LA Phil 100 tour in November 2019, Gustavo returned again to Mexico City to lead another Encuentros workshop, this time to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Sister City relationship between LA and Mexico City.
On their first international tour, 96 YOLA students and alumni from three YOLA sites joined 100 young musicians from Sistema Nacional de Fomento Musical en México and the Music Schools of Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura for joint rehearsals and coaching sessions which emphasized the vital importance of cultural exchange and music without borders.
In addition to attending rehearsals led by Gustavo and masterclasses with members of the LA Phil, the students participated in discussions of topics including cultural unity, interculturality, and building bridges through music. The events culminated in an open rehearsal with all 196 students led by Gustavo on November 13, 2019 at Palacio de Bellas Artes and a performance for local Mexican school children by YOLA on November 14, 2019 at Teatro Julio Castillo.
Encuentros: A “United Americas”
Mexico City, Mexico, 2018
Our first Encuentros experiment took place in Mexico City during Gustavo’s “Americas” tour with the Vienna Philharmonic—beginning at Carnegie Hall in New York and concluding at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires with stops in Florida, Mexico, Colombia, and Chile as a symbol of unity between North, Central, and South America. Committed to the idea of the "United Americas”, Gustavo saw this tour as an opportunity to bring together young people from different cultures to learn and make music together.
In March 2018, the Dudamel Foundation partnered with Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL; National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature), Secretaría de Cultura (Secretariat de Cultura), and the Arturo Márquez Foundation to create a four-day intensive “Art and Citizenship” workshop for young musicians from across the Americas. Many of the participating young musicians came from local education initiatives promoting music education in underserved communities, and together they explored the cultural unity of the Americas.
The 300 young musicians came from 10 community programs in 5 countries.
Argentina: Orquesta-Escuela of Chascomús
Canada: El Sistema New Brunswick, Orkidstra (Ottawa)
Mexico: Sistema Nacional de Fomento Musical en México (National System of Musical Development in Mexico)
Puerto Rico: Conservatorio de Musica de Puerto Rico Escuela Libre de Música Ernesto Ramos Antonini (Ernesto Ramos Antonini Free School of Music)
United States: Atlanta Music Project [Georgia], Boston String Academy [Massachusetts], Harmony Program [New York], YOLA (Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles) [California]
Venezuela: National Children's Orchestra of Venezuela
Gustavo worked alongside an international faculty of world-class teachers and educators to lead the students through rehearsals, discussions, and a final performance at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. They performed repertoire including Arturo Márquez's Alas (a Malala), dedicated to the Pakistani Nobel Peace Prize, Malala Yousafzai, who fought for education as a fundamental right of children everywhere, and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”.
Partnership & Support
Encuentros workshops have been made possible through the support of The Ford Foundation, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL), Mexico’s Secretaría de Cultura (Secretariat of Culture), and the Arturo Márquez Foundation.