The Diplomat
On the 30th anniversary of the Ibero-American Summits and the 15th anniversary of the Ibero-American Cultural Charter, the Dudamel Foundation has sponsored the stay in Spain until 30 June of forty young musicians from Ibero-American countries for the ‘Encuentros’ project, an initiative of comprehensive training and transforming coexistence aimed at young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
This programme, carried out together with the State Secretariat for International Cooperation, through the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID), the Secretaría General Iberoamericana (SEGIB) (SEGIB) and the Alto Comisionado contra la Pobreza Infantil, project, launched ten years ago by the Fundación Dudamel, of the Venezuelan-Hispanic orchestra conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the Spanish actress María Valverde, a commitment to training, education and excellence as vehicles for social advancement. The consideration of culture as a factor for development is a priority issue for the Dudamel Foundation and the Spanish Cooperation, which in turn is shared by SEGIB and the High Commissioner against Child Poverty.
The “Encuentros” project seeks to inspire and teach a new generation of young leaders to build a better world. In that spirit, the Foundation brings together students from the Americas and Spain to work with high-level teachers/mentors in the “Encounter Orchestra”, defined by maestro Gustavo Dudamel as a “world-class star” formation.
Gustavo Dudamel will conduct the workshops and concerts for two weeks with additional modules and masterclasses led by a faculty of musicians from the world’s leading orchestras, such as Venezuelan violinist Alejandro Carreño and principal cellist Johan Stern, among others. These tutors will provide the young artists of the Dudamel Foundation with musical training and leadership before leaving on a cultural tour that will take them, with repertoire by Schoenberg and Tchaikovsky, to the auditoriums of Oviedo, Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canarias on 26, 27 and 28 June respectively.
In addition, tomorrow Monday, the 21st, the ephemeris of Music Day, in Hall 12, which houses Las Meninas of the Museo Nacional del Prado, there will be a recorded production in which the young Orquesta del Encuentro will perform Arnold Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night, a work based on the poem of the same name by Richard Dehmel which speaks of the triumph of hope over darkness, a message which in these times of pandemics acquires, according to Dudamel, a special dimension.
This production recorded at El Prado will include a pre-concert discussion to reflect on the transformative potential of the arts and the value of culture in the fight against poverty and inequality. The Vice-President of the Government Carmen Calvo, the architect Frank Gehry – one of the greatest exponents of contemporary architecture – and the actress María Valverde, who will read Dehmel’s poem, will take part.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Arancha González Laya; the Minister of Culture and Sport, José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes; the Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Ángeles Moreno Bau; the Ibero-American Secretary General, Rebeca Grynspan; the High Commissioner against Child Poverty, Ernesto Gasco; the President of the Royal Board of Trustees of the Museo Nacional del Prado, Javier Solana; and the Director of the Museo Nacional del Prado, Miguel Falomir, are expected to attend the performance at the Museum.
