While we’re all looking for ways to occupy our time, it isn’t always convenient to sit down and watch television. After all, that gets to be boring just like every other repeated activity. Along comes Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Director and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel with an alternative: At Home With Gustavo.
You can find At Home With Gustavo on KUSC Radio in Los Angeles and on KDFC in the Bay Area. The concept of these broadcasts is that Dudamel will share, in conversation with KUSC’s Brian Lauritzen, many of his favorite recordings. Instead of conducting the music, he’ll be able to express precisely what each composition and recording means to him.
Anyone who has attended an LA Phil concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall knows that Dudamel is very passionate about music. That comes through in every single performance. What’s most appealing about these radio shows is that he will explain where that passion for each piece comes from.
Dudamel will record each session in his living room as he explains in this video:
You can tune in Tuesday-Friday at 6 PM on both stations. On Sunday, when the programming will be in Spanish, it will air at 6 PM on KDFC and 7 PM on KUSC. Each episode will be unique. Dudamel will occupy approximately 10 minutes or so of each broadcast. (These broadcasts can also be streamed on each radio station’s website.)
While we wait to see how long this pandemic lasts and when we’ll be able to see Dudamel on the podium at the Hollywood Bowl (his first scheduled performance is July 7th where he’ll lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus in a performance of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana), for now we can invite him into our homes to share his passion for music with us.
Photo of Gustavo Dudamel by Smallz Raskind (Courtesy of the Los Angeles Philharmonic)