Los Angeles Philharmonic Announces 2024/25 Dudamel Fellows

Conductors Holly Hyun Choe, Dayner Tafur-Díaz, Luis Castillo-Briceño, and Molly Turner have been selected for the fellowship program

Founded in 2009 by the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Music Director Gustavo Dudamel, the Dudamel Fellowship Program provides the selected conductors with opportunities to work alongside Dudamel and the orchestra, as well as with visiting artists and conductors, to hone their conducting skills through both observation and application.

The four 2024/25 Dudamel Fellows are Holly Hyun Choe, Dayner Tafur-Díaz, Luis Castillo-Briceño, and Molly Turner.

Born in South Korea and raised in LA, Choe is principal conductor of the chamber orchestra Ensemble Reflektor, Artist Associate for L’Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, and is the former assistant conductor to Paavo Järvi with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. She is also the recipient of a Solti Foundation Career Assistance Award and the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship scholarship.

Hailing from Peru, Tafur-Díaz has won the German Conducting Award, first prize of the International Opera Conducting Competition of the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège in 2022, as well as second place in the conducting competition of the University of Almería. He was also selected as one of 20 finalists in the 2023 Mahler Competition. 

Born in Costa Rica, Castillo-Briceño has been the Conducting Fellow of the London Philharmonic Orchestra for the 2023/24 season, an Equilibrium Young Artist mentored by Barbara Hannigan. Recently, he was named a designated winner in the Rotterdam International Conducting Competition 2025.

Turner is a Chinese-born conductor and composer from Tacoma, Washington, who is also the Conducting Fellow with the New World Symphony. Additionally, she has been mentored by Esa-Pekka Salonen as a Salonen Fellow at the Colburn School’s Conservatory of Music. 

As part of the fellowship, the four conductors will work with students in LA Phil’s education programs, such as the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA), plus be involved in LA Phil’s Hollywood Bowl 2024 season and 2024/25 season at Walt Disney Concert Hall. 

Upcoming performances featuring the Dudamel Fellows include LA Phil’s “Symphonies for Youth” series in November 2024, March 2025, and May 2025, as well as the Symphonies for Schools series in March 2025.

“We are proud to welcome our 14th class of Dudamel Fellows to Los Angeles for a season of shared beauty, mentorship and transformation,” said Dudamel in a press release. “Watching these young conductors learn and grow with us, and then go out into the world with their expanded vision, is a source of endless joy for me. Through their talent and hard work, we are building a new future where the orchestra is both a source of profound artistry, as well as a force for social good.”