LA Philharmonic Announces Conductors for 2010/11 Dudamel Fellowship Program

Beginning with the Los Angeles Philharmonic's 2010/11 season, four conductors will participate in the Dudamel Fellowship Program. Music Director Gustavo Dudamel, together with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, created the Dudamel Fellowship Program (in 2009)to provide a unique opportunity for promising young conductors from around the world to develop their craft and enrich their musical experience through personal mentorship and participation in the LA Phil's orchestral, education and community programs.The fellows will work alongside Dudamel and musicians of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and also work with students in key LA Phil education programs. The program for each of the fellows will run separately for approximately 4-6 weeks each. The fellows will hone their skills through observation and application, such as conducting Los Angeles Philharmonic youth concerts at Walt Disney Concert Hall, conducting Los Angeles Philharmonic Neighborhood Concerts, participating as a cover conductor, and serving as mentors themselves through participation in LA Phil education programs such as Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA).

The Dudamel Fellowship Program launched in conjunction with Gustavo Dudamel's 2009/10 inaugural season as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Please visit laphil.com for complete programming information.

The 2010/11 participating fellows are:

Joshua Weilerstein (February 11-March 7, 2011), from Boston, Massachusetts.

Immediately after completing his Bachelor of Music in violin performance at the New England Conservatory in May 2009, 22-year-old Joshua Weilerstein was named the winner of the international 2009 Malko Competition for Young Conductors in Copenhagen. His first-prize honors include conducting engagements over three years with such major Scandinavian orchestras as the Oslo Philharmonic, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, and the Danish National Symphony, among others. In June 2009, in the first of this series of Malko engagements, Weilerstein made his professional conducting debut with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.

In the 2009-2010 season he led the South Jutland Symphony Orchestra in Denmark, which quickly re-engaged him, the Danish National Symphony, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, the orchestra of the Skaneatelles Festival and the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuala with his sister, cellist Alisa Weilerstein, as soloist. In addition to his re-engagement with the South Jutland Symphony, highlights of the 2010-11 season include appearances with symphony orchestras of Norrköping, Aalborg, Aarhus, Tapiola, Malmö, South Jutland and Gävle as well as the CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra.

In the summer of 2009, Weilerstein participated in the prestigious American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival, where he studied with David Zinman and was awarded the Robert J. Harth Conductor Prize. In September 2009 he resumed his studies at New England Conservatory, pursuing dual Master of Music degrees in orchestral conducting with Hugh Wolff and in violin with Lucy Chapman. As an NEC junior and senior, Weilerstein initiated and organized several orchestral groups, which he rehearsed and conducted in concert, both in the NEC Preparatory division and in the conservatory.

In 2007, Weilerstein was invited to appear as violin soloist with the Símon Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela. Continuing his association with that organization, in 2007 he was also invited to become its first non-Venezuelan guest member, joining the first violin section on the orchestra's acclaimed American tour with Music Director Gustavo Dudamel. Currently living in Boston, he serves as concertmaster of Discovery Ensemble, a Boston-based chamber orchestra established by young musicians dedicated to bringing music to children through interactive workshops in schools and community concerts.

To Conduct:

* Saturday, February 19, 2011 at 11 a.m., Saturday, February 26, at 11 a.m.
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David Afkham (April 11-May 15, 2011), from Freiburg, Germany.

David Afkham is the Assistant Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, a post he has held since winning the 2008 International Donatella Flick Conducting Competition, and Assistant Conductor of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. This Summer Afkham will debut at the helm of the London Symphony Orchestra at a City of London Festival concert. Future highlights also include appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, the Hamburger Symphoniker, MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Gulbenkian Orchestra Lisbon, the Real Filharmonia de Santiago, and Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, as well as return projects with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Gustav Mahler Jungendorchester. In addition, David was a Dudamel Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic during the 2009/10 season.

Afkham was the first recipient of the "Bernard Haitink Fund for Young Talent", and he continues to work regularly with his mentor Bernard Haitink on major projects with the likes of the Chicago Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw or Berliner Philharmoniker.

Born 1983 in Freiburg, Germany, 27-year-old Afkham received his first piano and violin lessons at the age of six. At the age of 15, he entered his native city's University of Music to pursue studies in piano, music theory and conducting. He won first prize in the solo-piano category of the 2002 Jugend Musiziert German National Piano Competition. He then completed his conducting training at the Liszt School of Music in Weimar. David is a conducting fellow of the Richard Wagner Association Bayreuth and recently became a member of the "Conductor's Forum" of the German Music Council.

To Conduct:

* Saturday, April 23, 2011 at 11 a.m., Saturday, April 30, 2011 at 11 a.m.

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Photo Credit: Mathew Imaging

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