Van Walsum Management is delighted to announce the signing for worldwide management of conductor Gustavo Dudamel

Stephen Wright, Chairman of Van Walsum Management, announced today that Gustavo Dudamel has moved his general management to VWM with immediate effect. Commenting on this widely reported move, Wright said that Gustavo Dudamel “was joining one of the world’s most creative, stimulating and innovative agencies” and added that Dudamel would be benefiting, as all artists on the VWM roster, from its comprehensive, new and exciting opportunities in the areas of artist management, orchestral tours and multimedia. Together with senior management team members Costa Pilavachi (Executive Vice Chairman), Peter Savory (Head of Projects and Tours) and Mark Newbanks (Head of Artist Management), VWM prides itself on providing highly individual and creative management services to today’s generation of artists.

Since Stephen Wright became Chairman of VWM eighteen months ago, he has been investing in the company through experienced personnel additions and new artist signings. Recent announcements of oboist Francois Leleux and conductors François-Xavier Roth and Kazushi Ono joining VWM will be followed by others over the coming months. Describing these developments, Wright added that “artist management at Van Walsum goes beyond the ‘booking agent’ of the past decades to encompass total career planning, including the co-ordination of an artist’s audio and audiovisual recordings, broadcasts and the handling of digital rights as an essential part of the management process”. Complementing Gustavo Dudamel’s current agreement with DG, he notes that VWM will be “matching the supporting media services, from international television to online streaming, as well as some exciting new developments in the CD and DVD area. These will be announced in the late Spring”.

Wright concluded: “Gustavo Dudamel is an extraordinary artist and we know that he will find a level of dedicated service at Van Walsum which will encompass his very special musical and touring relationships in Los Angeles, Gothenburg and Caracas, and with many ensembles around the world. This is an exciting development”.

Gustavo Dudamel, who is working with his Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in Sweden this week, commented that “this is a deeply personal decision for me and I feel comfortable moving my complete management to Van Walsum”.

9 March 2010