Gustavo Dudamel -- not grounded by Icelandic ash -- is en route to L.A.

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Gustavo Dudamel keeps three cellphones on his person at all times: one for his native Venezuela; one for the U.S., where he officially has taken over as the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s 11th music director; and one for Sweden, where he serves as principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.

That’s where we caught up with him several weeks ago to talk about his move to Los Angeles, where he’ll be residing for part of the year with his wife. Dudamel also spoke about the first festival he’s overseeing for the L.A. Phil, ‘Americas and Americans,’ a pan-hemispheric exploration of composers including Osvaldo Golijov and Leonard Bernstein.

Fortunately, Dudamel made it out of Sweden in advance of the gigantic ash cloud, emanating from an Icelandic volcano, that has shut down European air space and shows no signs of relenting.

According to the L.A. Phil, Dudamel is currently in Cambridge, Mass., and will be heading to L.A. in the next few days to begin rehearsals with for several ‘Americas’ concerts.

Here’s the interview with Dudamel.

-- Reed Johnson