Los Angeles Philharmonic Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel will deliver the keynote address at USC’s 2026 commencement ceremony.
Dudamel, 45, has led the Los Angeles Philharmonic as music director since 2009, and is well known for his conducting — often from memory, without a score. He also serves as music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela.
Born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, he began conducting at age 12 and has been a strong supporter of children’s musical development. Inspired by his own music education program in Venezuela, he co-founded the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles, which brings free music education to disadvantaged communities, in 2007.
Dudamel has also joined different types of performance across the arts — he previously conducted the opening and closing credits of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and performed at the Super Bowl with Coldplay and Beyoncé in 2016. Now in his last season with the LA Philharmonic, he will soon transition to become the music & artistic director of the New York Philharmonic later this year.
In a press release announcing the speaker on Monday, USC spokesperson Leigh Hopper said the university expects graduates to hear about the necessity and power of community, joy and art at commencement.
“Gustavo Dudamel has transformed how this city experiences music,” USC President Beong-Soo Kim said in the release. “He is living proof that joy and excellence are transformative qualities, and that is exactly the message we want to convey as we send our graduates into the world.”
USC’s 143rd commencement is scheduled for May 14 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.