The meteoric young conductor Gustavo Dudamel has been thrilling audiences across the United States this fall at the helm of the Simon Bolivar National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, the band of which the 26-year-old has been artistic director since 1999. While his friends and colleagues have gone home to Caracas following sold-out performances at Carnegie Hall, Dudamel - the next music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic - is still in the Big Apple - where he makes his New York Philharmonic debut this weekend.

Starting off the program is the Symphony No. 2 — also called the "Sinfonia india" — written in 1935 by Mexican composer Carlos Chavez. Gil Shaham is on hand for Dvorak's Violin Concerto, which will be followed after intermission by Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony.

Dudamel leads the Philharmonic this evening at 7:30 p.m., tomorrow and Saturday (Nov. 30 and Dec. 1) at 8:00 p.m. and Tuesday, Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m. Tonight's concert is sold out, but information on and tickets for the remaining concerts are available at www.nyphil.org.

By Matthew Westphal