Reuniting with Trenton Youth Orchestra students after New York Philharmonic concert in January

Gustavo with Trenton Youth Orchestra and Princeton University students, January 2020. Photo by Julian Howard.

On January 17, 2020, Gustavo invited 26 members of the Trenton Youth Orchestra (TYO) and 13 Princeton University students to attend his concert with the New York Philharmonic in which he conducted Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 "From the New World", a piece the TYO students will perform later this spring.

Gustavo and the Foundation surprised the Trenton students with special pairs of Ora GrapheneQ Headphones headphones to allow the students opportunity to listen critically to Dvořák 9 as they prepare for their spring concert and beyond as they build paths forward through music.

Gustavo began working with students in Trenton during his residency at Princeton University Concerts (PUC) in 2018-19. Through a Dudamel Foundation grant, Princeton recently launched the Neighborhood Project, an educational initiative designed to connect musicians on PUC’s series with students from neighboring underserved communities. The new, five-year pilot program is a collaboration with Trenton Arts at Princeton and focused on a partnership with Trenton Central High School in its inaugural year.

Later this year, the Foundation will be sending headphones to Venezuelan students of El Sistema so that they also have the chance to discover new levels of critical listening to shape their creative futures.

Conductor Gustavo Dudamel, music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is a rock star of the classical world, and he brings that star power when he meets young musicians in schools and colleges across the country.