On October 19, Milan gave the SBYOV and its conductor, Gustavo Dudamel, a warm welcome. The orchestra made its debut at La Scala, one of the leading opera theatres in the world, and received from the audience a six-minute long ovation.

After two failed attempts in previous years, finally, the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra had the chance to play at this famous opera house. Here, the orchestra and its conductor made a success of the evening. Important figures such as Letizia Moratti, the Mayor of Milan, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, and Barbara Bianchi Bonomi, President of Children in Crisis, were seen among the expectant audience who filled the theatre to capacity (2,000 seats).

The repertoire, which included Silvestre Revueltas’ Sensemayá, Antonio Estévez’s Mediodía en el Llano, Evencio Castellanos’ Santa Cruz de Pacairigua and Piotr Ilyitch Tchaikovsky’s Symphony N° 4, surpassed all expectations. The enthusiastic audience called for an encore and the orchestra pleased them by playing Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, Leonard Bernstein’s Mambo, and Johann Strauss’ Trish Trash Polka, which won it a rapturous ovation.

The charity concert concluded and the SBYOV received good reviews by the Italian Press that described it as an extraordinary orchestra. Sarah Ferguson, an honorary member of the Children in Crisis association, congratulated maestro José Antonio Abreu and promised him she would travel to Venezuela soon and visit him to talk about the possibility of creating a replica of El Sistema in Milan.