Gustavo Dudamel named artist of the year by Gramophone

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Gustavo Dudamel has won one of the highest honors in classical music: the ‘artist of the year’ award from Gramophone magazine. The 30-year-old conductor was one of 10 nominees for the annual prize, which was announced Thursday in London.

The award recognizes the ‘most outstanding recording artist of the past year,’ according to Gramophone, the British monthly that organizes the prize.

Dudamel serves as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is prinicpal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony in Sweden and is affiliated with the Simon Bolivar Orchestra in his home country of Venezuela. He guest conducts internationally with many orchestras and had a number of recordings released in the past year.

Because Dudamel is in L.A. at the moment to conduct the Phil, he accepted the award at the 2011 Gramophone Classical Music Awards ceremony via a video.

The other artist-of-the-year nominees were Alison Balsom, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Iván Fischer, Alina Ibragimova, Jonas Kaufmann, Lang Lang , Andris Nelsons, Jordi Savall and Mitsuko Uchida. Gramophone said that the Berlin Philharmonic’s nomination this year marks the first time that an ensemble was up for the big award.

Unlike other awards handed out by Gramophone, the artist of the year is voted on by the general public.

Past winners include Joyce DiDonato, Hilary Hahn, Julia Fischer, Yo-Yo Ma and Michael Tilson Thomas.

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— David Ng