Venezuelan conductor Dudamel extends contract in LA

Gustavo Dudamel, the young Venezuelan conductor and rising classical music star, on Friday extended his contract as head of the Los Angeles Philharmonic through the 2021-2022 season.
The 34-year-old music director -- a product of Venezuela's "El Sistema" project of public music education -- had joined for the 2009-2010 season and had already received one extension to stay through 2018-2019.
"As I look to the future and how I want to focus my work, it's become clear that it is about a deepening of commitments to my two musical families -- my beloved El Sistema, and this great orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic," Dudamel said in a statement issued from Tokyo where he was leading the orchestra.
The move comes as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which has built a reputation in recent years for innovation, prepares to mark its centennial 2018-2019 season.
"Gustavo's passionate leadership has instilled a new sense of possibility among our musicians, our audiences, and our community," said Deborah Borda, president and chief executive of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association.
The extension would likely remove Dudamel from consideration for one of the most prestigious classical positions -- music director of the New York Philharmonic, where Alan Gilbert is leaving in 2017.
Dudamel's predecessor at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Finnish composer Esa-Pekka Salonen, has also been mentioned as a potential head of the New York Philharmonic.
The move would rule Dudamel out as well from leading the Berlin Philharmonic, which is seeking a new chief after Simon Rattle was tapped by the London Symphony Orchestra.