“Almost two months ago, in the wake of the killing of the violinist Armando Cañizales by Venezuelan security forces, I raised my voice against the violence and repression in my native Venezuela,” writes conductor Gustavo Dudamel in an opinion piece in Wednesday’s (7/19) New York Times. Dudamel is music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Simon Bolivar Orchestra of Venezuela. “This extreme confrontation and polarization is an obstacle to understanding and a peaceful democratic coexistence, and it cannot stand. Nothing justifies the bloodshed of my fellow citizens.… We have reached a critical crossroads as the government has called for the election on July 30 for a national constituent assembly to rewrite the Constitution. This is not the answer.… As a conductor, I have learned that our society, like an orchestra, is formed by a large number of people, all of them different and unique, each with his or her own ideas, personal convictions and visions of the world.… In order to thrive as a society (as well as to achieve musical excellence), we must create a common frame of reference in which all individuals feel included despite their differences, one that minimizes the noise and cacophony of disagreement and allows us to fine-tune, through plurality and diverging points of view.”
Posted July 20, 2017
