Gustavo Dudamel wins Glenn Gould Prize
Florence Lockheart
Monday, September 26, 2022
The conductor will receive his award at a gala ceremony in Toronto next year
Conductor Gustavo Dudamel has been announced as the 14th winner of the biennial Glenn Gould Prize. Dudamel will receive a Glenn Gould Prize statue along with a cash prize of 100,000 CAD (£68, 452) and, later this year, will choose a young artist or ensemble to receive the 25,000CAD (£17,056) Glenn Gould Protégé Prize.
Created in memory of Canadian pianist Glenn Gould, the award aims to celebrate artistic excellence, innovation, and humanitarianism across a wide range of disciplines. Dudamel was chosen from a list of international nominations by a jury including conductor Sir Andrew Davis; singer-songwriters iskwē, Loreena McKennitt and k.d. lang; artistic director emeritus of the National Ballet of Canada, Karen Kain; trumpet player William Leathers; pianist Hélène Mercier; actor-writer-directors Robert Lepage and Charles Officer and Lü Jia, music director of Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts.
The jury was chaired by producer, educator and activist Bob Ezrin, who said: ‘Gustavo Dudamel is one of the most exciting and inspiring conductors in the world today, as well as being a great educator, innovator and social activist. I am very excited about the decision and the process. I wish everyone could have been in the room to witness the passion and profound wisdom of this extraordinary group of people.’
Born in 1981 to a musical family, Dudamel joined Venezuelan music education programme, El Sistema at an early age before studying conducting with its founder, José Antonio Abreu. At age 18, he was appointed music director of Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar Youth Symphony Orchestra and is currently music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra.
Dudamel also holds the roles of music director of the Opéra National de Paris and music and artistic director of the LA Phil with which he founded Youth Orchestra Los Angeles in 2007 to provide young people with free instruments and music training. He also co-chairs the Dudamel Foundation with his wife, actress and director María Valverde.
Dudamel said: ‘The greatest art shines a light on our best selves, and offers a reminder of all that unites us. Likewise, the work of geniuses like Maestro Abreu and Glenn Gould is a beacon that shows us the path to create a better world together.’