World’s youngest conductor to direct Venezuela orchestra

Jose Angel Salazar has been recently appointed to direct a Venezuelan youth orchestra, thus becoming the youngest conductor in the world, the Guardian reported.

The young musician, who is only 14, Is said to be quite short, with disproportionately large hands for his narrow frame and a face framed by a mass of dark curls.
 

"I am not sure I am the youngest. I don't know who said that," he told the Guardian. "Maybe there is a younger conductor in some small town somewhere else," he said, trying to brush aside a claim that has brought him more fame than he seems ready to handle.


Salazar reportedly has between 70 and 80 musicians in the Youth Orchestra of Nueva Esparta at his command, of whom more than half are older than he is.


"I've been invited to conduct other orchestras that are made up of adults and it's easier," he said.


The shift in role, from friend and peer to leader, is a challenge Salazar must overcome not only for his own sake, but for that of the orchestra. Good conducting, he says, is in great part down to how the orchestra works as a whole, and a lot of the learning is through example.