One of the world’s most sought-after and decorated conductors of his generation, Gustavo Dudamel, flew into Kingston last Saturday for an orchestral performance at the official opening of the Simón Bolívar Cultural Centre located on Church Street in the capital city on Sunday.

It was quite a coup having Dudamel — music director of both the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra — here in Jamaica, but to have the celebrated conductor wielding his baton and leading the National Youth Orchestra of Jamaica (NYOJ) and players from El Sistema at the Bolívar Centre’s official opening in downtown Kingston was truly a masterstroke.

Under the baton of Maestro Dudamel, the National Youth Orchestra of Jamaica joined by members of El Sistema Caracas Youth Symphony Orchestra, played the national anthem of Venezuela and Jamaica and gave a performance of the classic Venezuelan piece Venezuela prior to the address by President Maduro who, in his speech, referred to the orchestra as a “miracle” .

Sixteen Heads of Government led by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and President Maduro of Venezuela attended the cermony, which also celebrated the bicentennial of Simón Bolívar’s famous Letter from Jamaica.

Prior to the start of the official proceedings, the orchestra played favourite Jamaican folk songs along with pieces from the classical repertoire conducted by NYOJ’s Darren Young.

The 34-year-old Dudamel, who was on The Rock for a mere 24 hours, flew in via private jet from Milan where he had just finished conducting Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra.