Gustavo Dudamel prepares for a fond LA Phil farewell at EIF

He argued that the century-old, single-mass symphony orchestra model, limited to standard format concerts in front of ageing audiences, had had its day. There was evidence of detached engagement among “burnt out” players, that there was a crying need to address a wider demographic, and that complacency – sticking rigidly to the old ways – would ultimately place orchestras in danger of extinction.

The solution he proposed was incendiary: that “arsonists” should set fire to the time-honoured symphonic structure. From the ashes would rise a less fusty, monochrome model into which flexible groupings of musicians, outside the traditional symphonic repertoire, could feed new initiatives, such as chamber music, contemporary music and educational outreach. His rallying cry was as much a doomsday warning as a call-to-arms: “The Orchestra is Dead – Long Live the Community of Musicians”, he proclaimed. That was half a century ago.

Anyone following the fortunes of American orchestras in recent years will note how prophetic Fleischmann’s words were. In a US fiscal climate where public funding of the arts is often less than ten per cent of an organisation’s turnover, a few have hit the skids, some have wrestled with musicians’ unrest over imposed contract changes, but those who grasped the need for serious change – not least the top tier US orchestras of Los Angeles, Boston and New York – are proving much more resilient.

None more so than the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which today ranks among the wealthiest and most diverse of all the American bands. At its core is the full 100-piece symphony orchestra which, for the past 17 years, has fed off the artistic dynamism and superstardom of its high-profile Venezuelan music director Gustavo Dudamel, known affectionally among LA fans as “The Dude”.

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Away from regular symphonic seasons at its city home – Frank Gehry’s futuristic Walt Disney Concert Hall – the orchestra operates hugely lucrative summer seasons at the Hollywood Bowl pulling in audiences from every conceivable demographic. Spearheading a whole raft of outreach and educational programmes – in which the LA musicians and Dudamel have played a crucial role – is the organisation’s hugely successful Youth Orchestra (YOLA).

This year’s Edinburgh International Festival offers a snapshot of that overall portfolio when both the LA Phil and YOLA feature in a three-day residency at the Usher Hall, which also coincides with a period of significant change for the orchestra. Dudamel officially leaves his post at the end of August to take up the musical directorship of the New York Philharmonic. While he will be maintaining a connection with LA as cultural laureate, a recent announcement revealed he will be succeeded by British conductor Daniel Harding.

For Kim Notelmy, the orchestra’s president and chief executive since 2024, the break with Dudamel will be painful, but she views the future as one of renewed opportunity. “Gustavo brought new audiences to our concerts on a level unparalleled,” she says. “People who never thought they wanted to go to a classical music concert have been coming on a regular basis and expanding beyond his own concerts.”

Can Harding match that? “He has different programming ideas,” Notelmy explains. “Gustavo had a huge focus on Latin America and North America commissions. Daniel will still focus on American composers, but will also look at other repertoire and new festival ideas. As a huge proponent of music education, he wants to be deeply involved with YOLA, which is such a great continuation of Gustavo’s vision.”

For now, though, YOLA is still very much in Dudamel’s hands. What’s more, its Family Concert in Edinburgh on 16 August brings together the Los Angeles youngsters with Scotland’s Big Noise: symbolic for Dudamel in that his own route to stardom began in Venezuela’s El Sistema, which was also the inspiration for Big Noise. “Gustavo insisted on bringing Sistema ideas to YOLA. He put a lot of energy behind it; it’s changed thousands of kids’ and families’ lives,” insists Notelmy.

In the two main LA Phil concerts (14 and 15 August) Dudamel combines Beethoven with the UK premiere of Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz’s ballet score Revolución diamantina and Thomas Ades’ Dante-inspired Inferno, both LA Phil commissions.

Whatever Dudamel himself feels at this pivotal point in his career is hard to say. He’s not one to speak openly to the press, declining media interviews in the run up to his EIF appearances.

Certainly, when it comes to speaking politics, he’s had his fingers burned. Writing in the Los Angeles Times in 2015, Dudamel stated: “I am neither a politician nor an activist. Although I am aware that even something as benign as conducting an orchestra may have deep political ramifications, I will not publicly take a political position or align myself with one point of view or one party in Venezuela or in the United States.”

Two years later, he was motivated to revise that stance when the Venezuelan government, in the wake of its security forces killing the violinist Armando Cañizales, called for the election of a constituent assembly with the power to rewrite the constitution and dissolve state institutions. Writing then in the New York Times, Dudamel declared: “In the past I have fought the urge to enter the political discourse, believing it was not my role. Yet people have tried to read my past actions like tea leaves, searching for deep political meaning. I am not looking to take sides; I am willing to take a stand”.

The article brought instant rebuke from President Nicolás Maduro, who replied: “May God forgive you for letting yourself be fooled”. Maduro’s office duly cancelled Dudamel’s US tour with the Venezuelan National Youth Orchestra. The conductor described the decision as “heartbreaking”.

And it’s hardly surprising that he’s reluctant to speak to the press now, following US President Donald Trump’s decision earlier this year to send US armed forces into Caracas to capture Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and transport them to New York to face trial for drug trafficking.

Politics aside, however, what Dudamel will leave behind at the LA Phil, and what Notelmy has inherited, is a legacy of resilience, both artistically and financially. “The number of people coming to our concerts is huge, way beyond anything that exists in the US at this point,” she says. A recent report stated that the combined activity of the LA Phil generates nearly $1 billion in annual economic benefit for the State of California. “We have a huge eco-system of people working with partners of the LA Phil, from teachers in our educational programmes to massive operational support at the Hollywood Bowl.”

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Such a culture has enabled Notelmy to weather the threats facing arts organisations under the current Trump administration. “We’d always get a grant for the National Endowment for the Arts. It wasn’t a big one and when the situation became clear that that was going to be difficult we decided to withdraw and not apply,” she reveals. “We didn’t want to be on the list of those targeted for being too focussed on something that they don’t like. For organisations that get much larger grants as a proportion of their budget it matters. But overall it’s not affecting us because we’re in California – and the government in California is extremely different from the Trump administration.

“But you have to be prepared for everything,” she adds. “When ICE raids were happening we had great concerns we might be affected at YOLA, or at Hollywood Bowl, because we do a lot of Latino-themed programming there. It was very stressful.”

Politics aside, Notelmy acknowledges the pitfalls facing a funding system largely reliant on private philanthropy. “Even though the LA Phil is doing extremely well, you always have to prepare for the future. Any orchestra is only two or three gifts away from having a really big deficit. That’s the reality.”

For that she is mindful of Fleischmann’s “community of musicians” doctrine and the empowering role he advocated for orchestral musicians. “Ernest was certainly a visionary talking about that long before anyone else. I do believe the orchestra is at the epicentre of what we do, not only in the musical sense but as individuals. They represent 100 ambassadors going out into the communities, doing all the things necessary to be the community partner we ought to be.

“Many US orchestras like us are the largest performing arts entity, therefore influential leaders, in their city. You need to believe in that idea and act in that way.”

The LA Phil Residency is at the Usher Hall, Edinburgh, from 14-16 August. Gustavo Dudamel also appears with American fiddle virtuoso Mark O’Connor at The Hub, Edinburgh, 14 August.

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