Frank Gehry to build a hall to honour Gustavo Dudamel
James Jolly
Monday, December 2, 2013
The American architect Frank Gehry, whose work includes Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, is to build a performance space to honour conductor Gustavo Dudamel. The Hall, La Sala Dudamel, will be built in Dudamel's hometown of Barquisimeto in Venezuela. Dudamel, is music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (who make their home in Disney Hall) as well as of the Simón Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela.
The plans for the Gehry building – which will contain a concert hall, rehearsal rooms and space for educational projects – were announced by José Antonio Abreu who created El Sistema, the music educational project of which Dudamel is the most famous alumnus.
Dudamel is conducting the Berlin Philharmonic this week and the concert on Friday, December 6, will be shown live in more than 100 cinemas across Europe (7.30pm CET; 6.30pm GMT), as well as in the orchestra's Digital Concert Hall. For details of the participating cinemas visit the Berlin Philharmonic's website. The programme comprises Stravinsky's two suites for small orchestra, and the Fourth Symphonies of Schubert and Beethoven.