Venezuelan youths cancel tour, Berkeley show

The National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela has announced the cancellation of its U.S. tour, which was set to include a concert for Sept. 21 at the Greek Theatre at UC Berkeley.

Though representatives from Cal Performances, the organization hosting the orchestra, weren’t able to say why the tour was canceled, other publications said the cancellation was ordered by Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s president. Those publications have highlighted a growing split between Maduro and Gustavo Dudamel, the tour’s conductor.

Dudamel, the popular music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, has been vocal on social media and in various newspaper editorials with his criticism of the political situation in Venezuela. Maduro has tried to centralize power by neutering the country’s opposition-led National Assembly, stacking the courts and creating a new body to rewrite the country’s Constitution. The country is experiencing a deep political and economic crisis that has led to protests and state violence.

“My country is living through dark and complicated times, following a dangerous path that may lead us inevitably to the betrayal of our deepest national traditions,” Dudamel wrote in a New York Times opinion piece published in July.

After the cancellation was announced Monday, Aug. 21, Dudamel took to Twitter. “My dream to play with these wonderful young musicians cannot come true — this time,” he wrote. “We will continue to play and to fight for a better Venezuela and a better world.”

Cal Performances said the youth orchestra has an “open invitation to Berkeley.” — Ryan Kost