Music: A Winning Quintet

LET’s take a quick look at five young musicians – a conductor, a violinist, a singer, a pianist, and a composer. All of them are winners; I would not waste your time, just now, with mediocrity. We’ll save the composer for last, composers being the crucial men in music – the truly creative ones. Without them, nothing to play (or sing).

Begin with that conductor – Gustavo Dudamel. He’s just about the hottest thing on the music scene now, the subject of endless hype. But the hype is not undeserved. Dudamel is a Venezuelan born in 1981. He leads the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, hitherto obscure. Starting in 2009, he will lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic – never too obscure.

About the Author

Jay Nordlinger

Jay Nordlinger was a senior editor of National Review and a book fellow at National Review Institute.

Featured Tags

Manage following

Art

LET’s take a quick look at five young musicians – a conductor, a violinist, a singer, a pianist, and a composer. All of them are winners; I would not waste your time, just now, with mediocrity. We’ll save the composer for last, composers being the crucial men in music – the truly creative ones. Without them, nothing to play (or sing).

Begin with that conductor – Gustavo Dudamel. He’s just about the hottest thing on the music scene now, the subject of endless hype. But the hype is not undeserved. Dudamel is a Venezuelan born in 1981. He leads the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, hitherto obscure. Starting in 2009, he will lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic – never too obscure.