“The announcement that Los Angeles Philharmonic music director Gustavo Dudamel will conduct members of Youth Orchestra Los Angeles in the Super Bowl halftime show is big news for the world of classical music,” writes Mark Swed in Saturday’s (1/30) Los Angeles Times. “Nothing like that has happened in the 50 years of the event.… The inspiring youth orchestra, which Dudamel initiated in 2009 when he assumed his post with the L.A. Phil, is composed of mainly African American, Asian and Latino inner city kids. And after seven years of instruction and rigorous practice, they now represent the best of who we are as a society and of our future.… That Dudamel will up his viewership ante by an estimated 120 million is nothing but good news for classical music and the L.A. Phil. But what matters most is that … through YOLA, regular kids given the opportunity and encouragement to devote themselves to studying music will now ascend an unimaginably vast stage.… The lasting victory of Super Bowl 50 could be YOLA’s appearance. Let this begin a new national dialogue about the unique role that art and culture can play in bridging the divide between the haves and have nots.” Watch a pre-game video with YOLA musicians here.
Pictured: Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Director Gustavo Dudamel with members of Youth Orchestra LA as they prepare for their appearance at the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday, February 7.
Posted February 5, 2016
