Maestro Dudamel tells Venezuelan leaders enough is enough, after teenage musician’s death in protest
Echoing compatriot and fellow musician Gabriela Montero’s recent comments while in Hong Kong, classical music conductor previously close to government of Nicolas Maduro says ‘just cry of the people’ must no longer be ignored
Classical music conductor Gustavo Dudamel has spoken out against the Venezuelan government he has long performed for, calling on President Nicolas Maduro to listen to protesters who have taken to the streets by the millions against his socialist government.
“We must stop ignoring the just cry of the people suffocated by an intolerable crisis,” he said. “Democracy cannot be built to fit the needs of a particular government or otherwise it would cease to be a democracy.”
Dudamel’s rebuke followed the death of 17-year-old musician Armando Canizales during a demonstration on Wednesday. Canizales was a member of the government-financed El Sistema musical education programme that spawned Dudamel’s career and with members of which the 36-year-old conductor continues to tour with even while serving as the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s musical director. Dudamel’s essay bore Canizales’ name in a black, tombstone-like box.
The world-famous El Sistema, created more than four decades ago, is one of the rare institutions to have survived – even thrived – under the past 17 years of socialist rule. The programme connects about 400,000 mostly poor Venezuelan children with classical music and its marquee Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, led by Dudamel, was until recently one of hottest touring ensembles in the world.