The pupil musicians, wearing denims, T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts, had been rehearsing an excerpt from “West Side Story” in a highschool auditorium one latest afternoon. Then, because the trumpets blared and the timpani went wild, a voice broke out from the conductor’s podium.
“Oy yo yo yo yo yo yo,” stated the famous person maestro Gustavo Dudamel, who was main the rehearsal. “You are not dancing together.”
Dudamel, the New York Philharmonic’s subsequent music director, paused for a second, telling the scholars they wanted a extra exact rhythm and sound. Then he put his arms in his pockets and swaggered across the stage.
“This is cool, really cool music,” he stated, eliciting laughter from the scholars. “We need something that goes with the nature of the body.”
The college students, a part of a 95-member youth ensemble nominated by faculties and humanities applications and assembled by the New York Philharmonic, had been at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in Manhattan for six days final week. They had been getting ready for a live performance on Friday with Dudamel, who has vowed to increase the Philharmonic’s presence in faculties and locally when he takes over in 2026.
Many of the scholars, who got here from excessive faculties throughout the 5 boroughs, had been nervous. Some had by no means carried out in an orchestra earlier than. But they stated they had been keen to indicate viewers members and Dudamel, an idol for a lot of of them, what they may do.
“He’s like a god,” stated Tristan Wiafe, 17, a double bass participant from the Bronx. “He’s in the upper echelons of musical society. And now I just hope that we can impress him.”
Olivia Okin, 18, a percussion participant who lives on Staten Island, stated she had by no means imagined she would carry out with Dudamel, or “the one with the wild hair,” as her academics described him.
“It’s crazy to think that I’m up here playing with him,” she stated. “It’s mind-blowing.”
While their pals had been on spring break, the younger musicians endured lengthy days of rehearsal at LaGuardia, working with the conductor Dietrich Paredes and a crew of 16 skilled musicians. They refined choices from “West Side Story,” by Bernstein, snapping their fingers, twirling their devices and shouting “Mambo!” They additionally rehearsed works by William Grant Still, Arturo Márquez and David Wright, a 10-year-old composer from Brooklyn. (Dudamel helped choose this system.)
One afternoon, Dudamel invited Wright onstage to supply suggestions because the orchestra rehearsed his composition, “Tarzan’s Rage.” Wright, carrying a Yankees jersey, requested for modifications within the tempo and dynamics. Dudamel praised his “beautiful piece” and gave him a excessive 5.
The college students stated the expertise of taking part in collectively introduced them nearer. During breaks, they traded telephone numbers, performed video video games and shared movies on TikTookay of cockatoos taking part in the xylophone. They danced in a mambo class and sang karaoke (“Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen and “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele had been favorites).
Sophia Remorca, 17, an oboist from Staten Island and the daughter of immigrants from the Philippines, stated she felt like an outsider at first: She had by no means performed in an orchestra earlier than. Remorca needed to study to present the pitch that the opposite gamers tune to, and he or she had a number of solos to follow. But her friends made her really feel welcome, she stated.
“It’s very challenging but it’s just nice having the support of these people,” she stated. “They understand me and believe in what I can do.”
The pupil orchestra, which started rehearsing in February and disbanded after the live performance with Dudamel, was a part of the Philharmonic’s weeklong celebration of the centennial of Young People’s Concerts, which have helped introduce new generations to classical music. Some of the scholars had been chosen to carry out alongside Philharmonic gamers and Dudamel on Wednesday at a gala live performance at David Geffen Hall centered on music schooling.
Dudamel has spoken about his want to make schooling an indicator of his tenure. In Los Angeles, he created the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles, often known as YOLA, which is modeled on El Sistema, the Venezuelan social and creative motion beneath which he educated.
In an interview, Dudamel stated his purpose was to not begin a model of YOLA in New York however to deepen partnerships with faculties and neighborhood applications in order that the Philharmonic may turn into “something that represents the desires, the dreams, the values of young people.”
“We will not save classical music by selling tickets in a certain way,” he stated. “No. It’s really about making the institution a part of the community in a very deep way.”
It was an unusually packed week for Dudamel — along with the gala live performance, he had agreed to select up three subscription live shows with the Philharmonic, substituting for an ailing conductor.
During his time with the scholars, Dudamel offered musical concepts (“This part is pure perfume,” he stated of a phase of the Márquez) in addition to sensible recommendation (“Don’t drink too much soda before the concert”). He additionally provided reflections on his upbringing in Venezuela. He stated that when he was younger, the concept of performing with a high ensemble just like the Philharmonic was a “very impossible dream.” He emphasised the significance of creating errors, saying they had been essential to “really improve and evolve.”
“The great orchestras in the world are not the ones that play every note perfectly,” he stated at one rehearsal. “They’re the ones that make things special.”
Atzel Rodriguez, a 16-year-old cellist who was born in Venezuela and lives in Manhattan, stated that Dudamel’s success on the worldwide stage was inspiring.
“He is in the big leagues of music,” stated Rodriguez, who hopes to sooner or later turn into a soloist. “I feel a sense of national pride.”
On the evening of the live performance with Dudamel at LaGuardia, the scholars, wearing festive lime-green shirts, lined up backstage. When Dudamel emerged from a classroom in an identical shirt, they cheered and took pictures.
“To work with them and to see them, it’s a way for me to connect with the soul of everything,” he stated. “This week is crucial for their lives.”
At the tip of the live performance, the viewers of a number of hundred folks provided a protracted ovation. Remorca, the oboist, stated that she felt energized, particularly when she seen folks smiling and shifting in the course of the mambo from “West Side Story.”
“It was exhilarating, it was just really fun,” she stated backstage. “I could feel everyone’s emotions when we were playing. It was just so good.”