Film Forum has announced the U.S. theatrical premiere of Theodore Braun’s ¡Viva Maestro! on Friday, April 8 in New York City. “More like champagne, less like moonshine,” Gustavo Dudamel, the charismatic Music & Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, implores a choir singing “Ode to Joy.” One of the few classical music figures of rock-star fame, Dudamel has been music director of Venezuela’s Simón Bolivar Symphony Orchestra since he was 18 years old. His precise directives to musicians enliven a whirlwind tour from Berlin to Mexico City, Hamburg, and Santiago, Chile.
Viva Maestro! considers the personal and political crises with which Dudamel contends: his long-established efforts to remain apolitical in the face of recent violent unrest in his native country. Should he speak out and enrage powerful figures in the political and musical establishments or remain silent against the strains of his own conscience? Ultimately his public stand will reinforce his belief in music as an inspiration and force for justice.
Viva Maestro! features the music of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Shostakovich and Mexico’s greatest living composer, Arturo Márquez, with performances by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. Dudamel has served as the Music & Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for thirteen seasons, was named the Music Director of the Paris Opera in April 2021, and was tapped by Steven Spielberg to conduct the recording of the score for the 2021 adaptation of West Side Story. He has introduced classical music to new audiences around the globe, and has helped to provide access to the arts for countless people in underserved communities with his tireless advocacy for arts education.
