Gustavo in rehearsal

One of my friends managed to get hold of tickets to see Gustavo Dudamel in Open Rehearsal with the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall.

I went down to London for the day on the train and it was magnificent.

We were sitting in the Rear Stalls and the lighting wasn't good so, although it was apparently acceptable to take photos (everyone was), it wasn't easy.

The marvellous musical experiment, which has become world famous, El Sistema, was a brainwave in Venezuela.

Maestro Jose Antonio Abreu : "Our motto is the disadvantaged first and for the disadvantaged the best tools, the best teachers, the best infrastructure. Culture for the disadvantaged cannot be disadvantaged culture. It should be large, ambitious, refined, advanced; not scraps."

El Sistema has used music to lift the aspirations of countless young people and to improve their quality of life and that of their families.

The sheer energy of the young musicians is amazing. They were rehearsing Beethoven Symphony No 3 and the Egmont Overture - and they gave us "Nimrod" for good measure.

Inspirational.