In the wake of the success of Gustavo Dudamel, or maybe more accurately in the wake of the work of El Sistema scion Jose Antonio Abreu, there has been an explosion in the number of top appointments going to Spanish or Latin American conductors. Whether this matters, whether any kind of cultural movement or school or schools of interpretation can be discerned, is an arguable point. Possibly one that will only be clear in many years' time.
But it's worth casting an eye over the class of 2014.
So, we have Dudamel at the Los Angeles Philharmonic (not to mention his own Simon Bolivar Orchestra, whose star has been linked to his and vice versa). The New York Phil may have local boy Alan Gilbert, but the same city's Orchestra of St. Luke's has the very fine Spaniard Pablo Heras-Casado, named Conductor of the Year in 2013 by Musical America. Across the country at the Houston Symphony they have welcomed Andres Orozco-Estrada, the brilliant Columbian who has also pitched up at the London Philharmonic as Chief Guest Conductor.
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