concert

On the second weekend of May, Gustavo Dudamel gave the New York Philharmonic a salsa shock. He gleefully brought the startled players together with the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, an uptown salsa and jazz band, for concerts at Lincoln Center and Washington Heights. The city‘s classical music fans treated it as a cultural breakthrough; Dudamel is expected to transform the orchestra as a cultural institution when he returns in the fall as its music and artistic director.

A day later he was back in Los Angeles to begin rehearsals at a Walt Disney Concert Hall that had been fantastically transformed by Frank Gehry for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s staging of “Die Walküre.” Transformation — be it cultural, orchestral, personal — has marked Dudamel’s 17 years as music (and more recently artistic) director of the L.A. Phil, which is now coming to an end with his three weeks of concerts in Disney to close the season June 7, followed by a celebratory weekend at the Hollywood Bowl in late August.

But meeting with Dudamel in his dressing room after a “Walküre” rehearsal (the opera begins Tuesday night at Disney and runs for six nights, an act a night, the full opera performed twice) , he says as he has said before, he does not think of this as a culmination, merely the beginning of a new adventure. He’s apartment shopping in New York. But he is keeping his house in Los Angeles.

He’s also departing with two very long new titles as “Die Walküre” premieres: the Diane and M. David Paul Artistic Cultural Laureate of the L.A. Phil and Jane and Michael Eisner Founding Director and Conductor Laureate of Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA).

“We are talking about projects,” he says. “Look, I’m coming back for two weeks in December,” when he will lead Beethoven programs. He returns in the spring. The Bowl will always be a second home.

“I’m living here and I’m not living here,” he explains. “The connection will always be here.”

The energy in New York is, he continues, “super exciting.” And what excites him the most is how comfortable he feels with the very real differences between L.A. and New York.

“As a Latino from Venezuela,” he says, “I have an immediate connection with the New York that is home of salsa. When I was in the womb I was hearing salsa.” His father, Oscar Dudamel, is a trombonist and salsa musician.

But he adds that mariachi, ubiquitous in Mexico and L.A., is also an integral part of Venezuelan culture. “What I have to say is that I am blessed. I’m blessed that both cities are now part of my life.”

Bringing ‘crazy’ ideas to Los Angeles

L.A., of course, has been the major part of his adult life. At 24, an unknown, he made his dazzling U.S. debut in 2005 leading the L.A. Phil at the Hollywood Bowl. Four years later, he became the orchestra’s music director and caught the world’s attention.

There is no doubt that Dudamel’s extraordinary talents would have meant a major career wherever he landed. But, here, he inherited the world’s most culturally open major orchestra, where fresh thinking and new music thrive. Disney Hall allowed him the extraordinary freedom to dream. Being back at Disney, Dudamel admits, is very emotional, especially conducting “Walküre” with Gehry’s sets of billowy, sumptuous clouds and fanciful white papery horses.

“Frank is here with us,” Dudamel exclaims about the architect, who died in December and with whom he had become close. Conducting Wagner’s opera, in many ways, sums up Dudamel’s ambitions, the way he has connected with more sides of L.A.’s cultural landscape than possibly any other artist.

In L.A., Dudamel grew as an artist and a person, he says, through his relationship with an orchestra that is uniquely flexible and a welcoming community. This allowed Dudamel to be what he likes to call “crazy.”

“I remember the first time I came here. I didn’t have a chance to do or see anything,” he says of his Bowl debut. “So, I remember driving from the airport to Sunset Boulevard, where my hotel was, and I didn’t understand anything. But immediately it was the connection with the orchestra.”

Flash forward 20 years from 2005 to 2025. In what seemed like a truly crazy idea, he brought the L.A. Phil to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, where he led a varied set of classical favorites and appearances with pop stars, for 150,000 people shouting “L.A. Phil! L.A Phil.” Among the highlights was “Ride of the Valkyries,” the English title of “Walküre.”

The symbolism of doing “Walküre” is, for Dudamel, unmistakable. Wagner’s four-part “Ring” cycle, of which “Die Walküre” is the second opera, strongly influenced the “Star Wars” films Dudamel grew up with. The saga’s composer John Williams is another L.A. legend who became for Dudamel like family. Williams has, in fact, written a fanfare, “Bravo Gustavo!” that Dudamel will premiere on June 4 in a concert in which he celebrates the musicians of the L.A. Phil.

The “Walküre” production, moreover, further expresses his desire to remain connected with L.A. When asked whether he still plans to complete the “Ring” cycle with the L.A. Phil, which he began two seasons ago with “Das Rheingold,” he says, “completely.”

It’s a radical notion, to say nothing of an extraordinarily expensive and time-consuming challenge for any orchestra given to a former music director, but Dudamel has never been one to take no for an answer. “At my last conversation with Frank,” he recalls, “I said I was coming to talk about ‘Siegfried’ [the next opera in the cycle], and he said, ‘You are crazy.’”

“That was Frank. He freaked out about the operas every time I talked to him about them. And then he came up with fabulous ideas.

“You know I never dreamed about coming to the L.A. Phil. I was happy in Venezuela and guest conducting elsewhere. But when I met Frank and John [Williams], I knew I had come to the right place.”

One reason Dudamel was happy in Venezuela was his position as music director of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, part of El Sistema, the country’s famed music education program. He brought a version of that to Los Angeles with YOLA, which offers free musical education to students. Bringing young people together to learn — and not just to play music but to listen to each other — has grown increasingly essential to him.

On Thursday evening, USC awarded Dudamel an honorary doctorate during its graduation ceremonies at the Coliseum, where Dudamel also gave the commencement speech.

“I will never tire of repeating this: music, art and beauty are universal rights,” he told the graduates, urging them to go out into the world listening to others, seeing others, paying attention to everything. These are the practices he has long championed as the essential need for youth orchestras.

This was, in fact, almost precisely what he said when he first arrived in L.A. “I was very young, but I grew up with these ideas,” he told me.

“You have to say to the students, ‘Stop! Let’s pause. Just listen.’”

“It’s a way to really connect with what surrounds you, but also connect with yourself. That’s the beauty of all the layers of listening we do as musicians. I now think that is our main tool. In the end it’s not listening only to sounds. It’s listening as connecting with others.”

Practicing what he preaches

As Dudamel plans for his next chapter, he indicates that the advice he gives students is what he is also saying to himself.

What L.A. gave him, he concludes, is a greater depth of his own listening. There was the guidance of Deborah Borda, who, as the orchestra’s president and CEO, hired and mentored him. There were the opera productions with Peter Sellars, who made him look deeply inside himself. There were the communities to discover and with which to collaborate.

New York, he insists, will be a further continuation of this process. “There are a lot of things to do. As I did here, that will be not only conducting but spending a big amount of time doing other things. I will have to listen to the community. Every place is different.”

And every place needs to be, for Dudamel, connected. He began his last season in Disney in the fall with the world premiere of Ellen Reid’s “Earth Between Oceans,” a bicoastal co-commission between the L.A. Phil and the New York Philharmonic, sonically evoking the environmental difference between L.A. and New York. He recently repeated it with his new orchestra in David Geffen Hall in New York.

In L.A., Reid’s score felt like a vast, moving, spiritual soundscape of our fires’ fury as well as our coastal fancy. At Geffen, it became a gripping showpiece, like attempting to zoom in a Ferrari through Manhattan streets, were they ever empty — the thrill of taking it all in.

Dudamel says his favorite place in New York so far is the orchestra’s archives. Becoming absorbed in the history of America’s oldest orchestra gives him new ideas. He wants simultaneously the old, the new and the many.

He also insists on ever more connections. ”We are making, many, many projects together,” he says of the L.A. Phil and the New York Philharmonic. That includes bringing the two orchestras together in a further experiment in listening.

“That‘s very important to me, one of my dreams. And it’s not difficult,” he says. “We have plans and it’s beautiful. We have to do that.”

Tucked inside the downtown skyline, four floors and 50 feet above Olive Street, the Rooftop Cinema Club is hosting daily summer showings of cult classics, blockbusters and an occasional art-house piece. Each ticket holder is provided a pair of wireless headphones, and sunglasses are recommended for earlier showtimes.

Cost: $21 to $27 for patio chairs. $32 to $36 for cushioned loveseat. Parking rates below the building range from $10 to $12.

Next film: “Saved!” on May 14, 8:15 p.m.

Other films: “Twilight,” “Josie and the Pussycats,” “Past Lives,” “10 Things I Hate About You.”

Food options: Outside food and drinks are not allowed. Concession stands carry popcorn, nachos, pretzels and other snacks. Full bar with cocktails, beer and wine.

Dog-friendly? Pets not allowed.

Things to note: Bring-your-own-blanket policy for cold nights. Age requirements vary; most showings are 16+, but select films are 18+ and 21+. If weather conditions become too extreme, showings may be canceled.

Movie theaters are no longer just for watching stories — they’re becoming live entertainment portals. In a pivot toward live music entertainment, AMC is launching a real-time, interactive concert experience across 300 of its locations.

Unlike the static concert films of the past, the new tech allows artists on a remote stage to see, hear, and respond to the theater audience, effectively turning your local cinema into a stadium.

Pop stars Bebe Rexha, Paris Hilton, Kim Petras and Maren Morris are the first headliners for the concert series hitting AMC screens this June. The program moves away from pre-recorded content, opting instead for live broadcasts that allow artists to perform for a national theater audience in real time.

The movie theater chain is partnering with live entertainment company, Arena One, to bring this technology to 89 markets across the country.

“This is a highly immersive, communal experience, combining the energy of a live concert with the scale, comfort, accessibility and affordability unique to AMC,” Adam Aron, the chief executive officer of AMC Entertainment said during an earnings call Tuesday afternoon.

These one-night-only live events are meant to simulate the look and feel of going to a concert in-person — without the often-pricey cost of admission. According to AMC, the prices for these tickets will range from $40 to $75, depending on the artist and the market.

“The next chapter of live shows isn’t about proximity to big venues, it’s about creating visceral, intimate, affordable live connection between artists and fans no matter where they are,” Rohit Kapoor, Arena One’s founder, said in a statement.

“Arena One gives artists a new cinema-native canvas to create live performances, while amplifying the raw energy and shared fandom that makes live shows unforgettable.”

Music has been a hot topic for movie theaters of late as the industry continues to navigate rough waters amid hopes of a durable post-pandemic recovery.

Between box office-topping biopics like “Michael,” documentaries like “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert” and concert films like the forthcoming Billie Eilish movie “Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour,” movies rooted in music are consistently drawing sizable and enthusiastic theater audiences.

Aron, AMC’s CEO, added, “We believe that this innovation can open an entirely new chapter in live entertainment while driving incremental attendance and revenue across our circuit.”

May 5 (UPI) — Colombian singer Shakira drew an estimated 2 million people to a free concert on Copacabana beach, generating an estimated $160 million economic impact, according to data from the city government and municipal agencies.

The show, held Saturday in front of the Copacabana Palace hotel, was part of the third edition of the “Todo Mundo no Rio” program, an initiative led by the Rio city government to attract tourism and economic activity during May, traditionally a low season.

According to Riotur and the Municipal Secretariat of Economic Development, the event boosted sectors such as hospitality, food services, transportation and retail. The city deployed a comprehensive operation covering security, logistics and public services, with the Operations and Resilience Center running at full capacity.

The concert opened with a show of 1,500 drones — described as one of the largest displays of its kind at a music event — forming a she-wolf in the sky, a symbol associated with the artist. Minutes later, Shakira appeared on stage dressed in the colors of Brazil.

During the show, the artist spoke in Portuguese and recalled her early years in the country.

“Brazil, I love you. It is magical to see millions of souls together, ready to sing, feel and dance,” she told the crowd.

The performance included more than two hours of hits spanning different stages of her career, along with segments dedicated to women.

“Women don’t cry anymore. Alone we may be more vulnerable, but together we are invincible,” she said.

The show also featured appearances by well-known Brazilian artists, such as Anitta, Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethania and Ivete Sangalo.

The “Todo Mundo no Rio” program aims to position Rio as a global destination for large-scale events. It was launched in 2024 with Madonna, who drew 1.6 million people, and continued in 2025 with Lady Gaga, who attracted 2.5 million.

Copacabana has also hosted some of the largest concerts in the world. Rod Stewart drew 3.5 million people in 1994, The Rolling Stones, about 1.5 million in 2006, and Stevie Wonder, some 2 million in 2012.

According to official data released by Agencia Brasil, medical services handled about 400 cases during the event, with 64 transfers to hospitals due to general discomfort, minor injuries and alcohol consumption. Cleanup crews collected about 362 tons of waste, with nearly 2,000 workers deployed.

After her stop in Brazil, Shakira will head to the North American leg of her tour, with concerts in the United States between June and July. These include dates in Inglewood, Palm Desert and San Jose, Calif., Dallas, Atlanta, Miami, Baltimore, Boston, Newark, N.J., and New York, before ending this leg in Atlantic City, N.J. on July 25.

SHAKIRA suffered major tech issues during her huge Copacabana Beach concert over the weekend.

The global superstar faced backlash as eagle-eyed viewers spotted the mishaps during the performance.

An estimated 2 million people attended the show in Rio De Janeiro, where the popstar delivered a nearly 30-song set that included guest appearances by Anitta, Maria Bethania, and Caetano Veloso.

Although she performed in style, the sound and visuals didn’t match up at times.

Clips from the gig quickly went viral on X, but while some viewers were left disappointed, others weren’t surprised, saying it’s common at large-scale shows.

Taking to X, one person said: “If ur gonna lip at least make it believable”.

Another added: “This is genuinely a f******* mess”.

The Colombian singer’s performance follows similar shows by Lady Gaga last year and Madonna in 2024, which were also attended by huge crowds.

“I arrived here when I was 18 years old, dreaming about singing for you,” Shakira told the crowd. “And now look at this. Life is magical.”

She sang several fan favourites during her set, including Hips Don’t Lie, La Tortura, Waka Waka, Whenever Wherever, She Wolf and La Bicicleta.

The show also featured a massive drone show, which amazed the crowd.

Despite being a free concert, Shakira’s show was expected to generate an estimated $150 million in tourism revenue to the city, according to local government.

This isn’t the first mishap the pop star has had live on stage.

In February, Shakira suffered a nasty fall during a live stage performance, with the singer twisting her ankle in the middle of her concert.

She was performing in San Salvador when she left fans worried during a mid-song tumble.

Singing her hit song Si Te Vas during the night, Shakira was walking across the stage when her right ankle suddenly twisted.

She then completely toppled to her side, falling onto her elbow as she brought her microphone stand down with her.

During the moment, Shakira stopped singing as gasps could be heard amongst the audience.

But ever the professional, she quickly got herself back up and managed to continue the song – with the star’s band continuing as her guitarist cheered her on.

WIENER NEUSTADT, Austria — A man accused of pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group and plotting to attack one of superstar singer Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna nearly two years ago pleaded guilty as his trial began on Tuesday, his lawyer said.

The plot was thwarted, but Austrian authorities still canceled Swift’s three performances in August 2024. The singer’s fans, known as Swifties, who had flown to Austria from across the globe to attend a performance of her record-setting Eras Tour were devastated, but rallied to turn Vienna into a citywide trading post for friendship bracelets and singalongs.

The defendant, a 21-year-old Austrian citizen known only as Beran A. in line with Austrian privacy rules, faced charges including terrorist offenses and membership in a terrorist organization. He could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, and has been in custody since August 2024.

The Vienna plot drew comparisons to a 2017 attack by a suicide bomber at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, that killed 22 people. The bomb detonated at the end of Grande’s concert as thousands of young fans were leaving, becoming the deadliest extremist attack in the United Kingdom in recent years.

Defendant regrets his actions

Anna Mair, his defense attorney, said her client pleaded guilty to the charges related to the concert plot.

“Of course, he deeply regrets it all,” Mair said outside the court, adding that “he says it was the biggest mistake of his life.”

Austrian media reported that he also pleaded guilty to being a member of a terrorist organization.

Beran A. is facing trial alongside Arda K., whose full name also has not been made public. They, along with a third man, planned to carry out simultaneous attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates during Ramadan in 2024 in the name of the Islamic State group. Beran A. and Arda K. never carried out their attacks.

Only Beran A. was charged in connection with the concert plot. He pleaded not guilty to the charges related to the plot for simultaneous attacks.

He allegedly planned to target onlookers gathered outside Ernst Happel Stadium — up to 30,000 each night, with another 65,000 inside the venue — with knives or homemade explosives. The suspect hoped to “kill as many people as possible,” authorities said in 2024. The U.S. provided intelligence that fed into the decision to cancel the concerts.

Beran A. also allegedly networked with other members of the Islamic State group ahead of the planned attack. Prosecutors say they discussed purchasing weapons and making bombs, and that the defendant also sought to illegally buy weapons in the days ahead of the performance. In addition, he swore allegiance to the militant group.

Authorities searched his apartment on Aug. 7, 2024, and found bomb-making materials. The concerts were scheduled to begin the next day.

“Having our Vienna shows canceled was devastating,” Swift wrote in a statement posted to Instagram two weeks later. “The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many people had planned on coming to those shows.”

A representative for Swift did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.

The trial is being held in Wiener Neustadt, about an hour south of Vienna. The proceedings are set to continue May 12.

Three attacks planned in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and UAE

Prosecutors have also filed terrorism-related charges against Arda K. in the trial in connection with the plan for simultaneous attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

The third man in that plot, Hasan E., allegedly stabbed a security guard with a knife at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on March 11, 2024. He was arrested and remains in pretrial detention in Saudi Arabia, Austrian prosecutors said.

Beran A. and Arda K. did not carry out their plans in Turkey and the UAE. Beran A. returned to Vienna and then allegedly began plotting to attack a Swift concert there.

Jenne, Schrader and Dazio write for the Associated Press. Dazio reported from Berlin. AP writer Daniel Niemann in Cologne, Germany, contributed to this report.

KANYE West’s Poland concert has been cancelled amid his tour chaos – just weeks after public outrage as he was announced as the headliner for Wireless Festival in the UK.

Over the past few years the American rapper has been mired in controversy for making a string of antisemitic, racist and pro-Nazi comments.

After his concert appeared to be cancelled by the stadium, Kanye has so far remained silent on the matter.

“We would like to inform you that the Ye (Kanye West) concert planned for June 19, 2026, at the… Slaski stadium will not take place due to formal and legal reasons,” said stadium director Adam Strzyzewski in a statement posted on Facebook.

Authorities in Poland had already signalled they would seek to ban the planned June 19 concert.

The decision by the Slaski stadium in the western city of Chorzow, first reported by Wyborcza newspaper, comes just days after he  postponed a concert in Marseille, France, “until further notice.”

Kanye, also known as Ye, said on X: “After much thought and consideration, it is my sole decision to postpone my show in Marseille, France until further notice.”

At the time, French media reported that Interior Minister Laurent Nunez was looking to ban the June 11 gig.

A source, said to be close to Nunez, told the AFP news agency that the minister was “highly determined” to axe the event.

Just weeks ago, Wireless Festival was cancelled after Kanye was blocked from entering the UK following days of backlash.

The Home Office confirmed on April 7 that West’s application to travel to the UK had been denied amid an antisemitism row over his headline slot.

Officials said the decision to refuse permission was made on the grounds that his presence would not be conducive to the public good.

West was due to headline all three nights from July 10 to July 12 at Finsbury Park, North London – playing to 150,000 people in total.

But Wireless organiser Festival Republic confirmed the popular event had been cancelled altogether following the Government’s decision.

Festival Republic said in a statement: “The Home Office has withdrawn YE’s ETA, denying him entry into the United Kingdom.

“As with every Wireless Festival, multiple stakeholders were consulted in advance of booking YE and no concerns were highlighted at the time.

“Antisemitism in all its forms is abhorrent, and we recognise the real and personal impact these issues have had.

“As YE said today, he acknowledges that words alone are not enough, and in spite of this still hopes to be given the opportunity to begin a conversation with the Jewish community in the UK.”

Back in January Ye apologised for his behaviour, which he attributed to untreated bipolar disorder, and renounced past expressions of admiration for Adolf Hitler.

In a separate statement on X, the fashion designer added: “I know it takes time to understand the sincerity of my commitment to make amends.

“I take full responsibility for what’s mine but I don’t want to put my fans in the middle of it.

“My fans are everything to me. Looking forward to the next shows.”