In Sunday’s (2/19) Huffington Post, Laurence Vittes writes, “During the week, classical music conversations naturally shifted from Gustavo Dudamel’s Mahler Project to professional basketball star Jeremy Lin’s overnight emergence as the most popular person on the planet. Both performance artists have rejuvenated their local, national and global communities, immediately along its length and breadth in the case of Lin, and increasingly so in the case of Dudamel. Lin joined the starting line-up for a team [the New York Knicks] that had a disparate collection of journeymen and superstars but needed someone to make them coalesce behind a common goal, then dazzle and shine. With Gustavo it was the same way; he’s a great team player who literally places himself at the disposal of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Deborah Borda’s corporate team. Their success indicates that there is pent-up energy in the cultural economy. … Interest in both men has raised morale on local, regional, national and global levels. At a time when disaster looms and depression rules, the sudden emergence of Lin and Dudamel, who defy the gods with daring and luck, comes over as an unambiguous message booster that when we try to be our best, we succeed just by trying.”
Posted February 23, 2012
