Manuel Lopez Gomez |

Manuel Lopez Gomez

The young conductor Manuel López Gómez has been described as a “rising star with a unique talent”. He was born in 1983 in Caracas (Venezuela) and is a student of the famous Venezuelan musical education program “El Sistema”. At the age of 6, the future maestro began to play the violin. In 1999, at the age of 16, he became a member of the National Children’s Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. Subsequently, he took part in tours of the orchestra in the USA, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Italy, Germany and Austria. For four years he was concertmaster of the Youth Orchestra of Caracas and the Simón Bolivar Youth Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela on tour in the USA, Europe, Asia and South America.

In 2000, the musician began conducting under the guidance of maestro Jose Antonio Abreu. His teachers were Gustavo Dudamel, Sun Kwak, Wolfgang Trommer, Seggio Bernal, Alfredo Rugeles, Rodolfo Salimbeni and Eduardo Marture. In 2008, the young maestro reached the semi-final of the Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition in Frankfurt and was invited to conduct such ensembles as the Bayi Symphony Orchestra (Brazil), the Carlos Chavez Symphony Orchestra (Mexico City), the Gulbenkian Orchestra (Portugal), the Youth Orchestra Teresa Carreno and Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra (Venezuela). “Thanks to his exceptional spirituality, the deepest sense of professional responsibility and authentic artistic vision, Manuel is one of the main and most brilliant leaders of the musical process in Venezuela” (Jose Antonio Abreu, director and founder of El Sistema).

In 2010-2011, Manuel López Gomez was selected as a member of the Dudamel Fellowship Program and performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Maestro Dudamel. As a program participant, in September-October 2010, he was assistant conductor to Gustavo Dudamel and Charles Duthoit, and conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic in five concerts for young people and a series of public concerts. The famous pianist Emmanuel Ax was the soloist in one of them. In 2011, Manuel López Gómez returned as assistant conductor to Gustavo Dudamel and performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for two weeks in March. He also assisted Maestro Dudamel in his productions of Verdi’s La Traviata and Puccini’s La Boheme.

Gustavo Dudamel said of him this: “Manuel López Gomez is undoubtedly one of the most exceptional talents I have ever met.” In April 2011, the musician made his debut in Sweden with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. He has conducted eight concerts (three in Gothenburg and five in other cities in Sweden) and was invited to conduct the orchestra in 2012. In May 2011, Manuel López Gómez performed with the world-famous tenor Juan Diego Flores in Peru, and in the summer he conducted the Busan Philharmonic Orchestra and the Daegu Symphony Orchestra in South Korea.

According to the press release of the information department of the IGF