LOS ANGELES, January 28, 2016 - Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA), led by LA Phil Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, will perform during the Pepsi Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show on Sunday, February 7 on CBS.

The show will echo elements of the NFL's On the Fifty campaign – honoring the past, recognizing the present and looking ahead to the next 50 years. Global superstars and winners of seven Grammy Awards Coldplay will perform, among other acts.

“This is a wonderful honor and an extraordinary showcase for YOLA, as well as a tribute to youth orchestras worldwide,” said Dudamel. “When we play, it will be for the youth of the world so they can be inspired to create both a better life for themselves and a better future.”

Dudamel will be joined on the stage by students from the program’s YOLA at EXPO site in South L.A., a partnership of the LA Phil, Harmony Project, and the EXPO Center (a Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks facility).

Gustavo Dudamel is defined by his untiring advocacy for access to music for all. Through YOLA, conceived by Dudamel and inspired by Venezuela’s pioneering El Sistema, the LA Phil and its community partners provide free instruments, intensive music training, and academic support to more than 700 students from underserved neighborhoods, empowering them to become vital citizens, leaders, and agents of change.

The Pepsi Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show is the most watched musical event of the year. More than 118.5 million viewers in the U.S. watched last year’s show, marking the most-watched Halftime Show ever.  The Super Bowl and Halftime Show will be broadcast worldwide from Levi’s Stadium in the San Francisco Bay area. 

The Pepsi Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show is an NFL Network Production and will be executive produced by Ricky Kirshner and directed by Hamish Hamilton. For more information about Super Bowl 50, visit SuperBowl.com or follow #SB50.

Youth Orchestra LA (YOLA)
Since it was established in Fall of 2007, YOLA has grown to serve 700 students, ages 6-18, in South L.A., the Rampart District and East L.A. YOLA partners share costs and program management responsibilities. The YOLA initiative currently consists of three programs: YOLA at EXPO, YOLA at HOLA, and YOLA at LACHSA.

Part of Exposition Park in South L.A., YOLA at EXPO has grown to include three orchestras, mentorship, group lessons, chamber music, and parent ensembles. The program serves hundreds of students who attend four days each week. In addition, students perform annually at Walt Disney Concert Hall and have appeared multiple times on the iconic stage of the Hollywood Bowl. YOLA at EXPO is a partnership of the LA Phil, Harmony Project, and EXPO Center, a City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks facility.

YOLA at Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA), located in the Rampart District, serves hundreds of students with intensive after-school orchestral instruction five days a week. Classes include music creativity, singing and solfège, ensemble rehearsals, and academic tutoring daily. This holistic approach fosters a sense of community and provides the students with the opportunity to take advantage of HOLA’s exceptional programs and resources. YOLA at HOLA is a partnership between the LA Phil and Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA).

YOLA at LACHSA engages 140 students, ages 8-11. High school students at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts act as mentors to their younger YOLA counterparts. YOLA at LACHSA is a partnership between the LA Phil and the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.

Gustavo Dudamel
While his commitment to the LA Phil and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela account for the major portion of his yearly schedule, Dudamel also guest conducts with some of the world’s greatest musical institutions, including the Vienna Philharmonic, which he returns to lead in Vienna and on tour in 2016 and which he has been invited to conduct in the globally televised 2017 Vienna Philharmonic New Year’s Day Concert. This season, opera features prominently in his schedule, notably his April 2016 Vienna State Opera debut conducting a new production of Turandot.

Now in his seventh season as Music & Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dudamel’s contract has been extended through the 2021-2022 season.  Under his leadership the Los Angeles Philharmonic has expanded its diversified outreach through many notable projects, including Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA), influenced by Venezuela’s widely successful El Sistema.  With YOLA, Gustavo brings music to children in the underserved communities of Los Angeles, and also serves as an inspiration for similar efforts throughout the U.S. and in Europe.

As Music Director, his 17^th season, of the entire El Sistema project in Venezuela, he continues to lead the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra in Venezuela as well as on tour. A Deutsche Grammophon artist since 2005, Grammy winner Gustavo Dudamel has numerous recordings on the label, as well as many video/DVD releases that capture the excitement of significant moments of his musical life.

In addition to his orchestral duties, Dudamel conducted the opening and closing credit scores for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Dudamel was also on a recent episode of Amazon’s “Mozart in the Jungle,” has appeared on “Sesame Street” and has been profiled twice on “60 Minutes.”

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