Venezuelan conductor "stupendous" on Sesame St

Grammy-winning Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel is now so famous in the USA he was invited to appear on the popular kids' show Sesame Street, alongside series-veteran Elmo, a sheep playing the violin, an octopus playing percussion and an all penguin choir.

His appearance on the show was "very, very great and amazing", but what else could you expect from a classical music conductor who gets rock star treatment wherever he goes and whose fans call him the "Dude".

Dudamel is so popular in Los Angeles, where he leads the LA Philharmonic, that there's even a hot dog named after him.

The 31-year-old conductor cemented his position as one of the hottest talents in classical music on 12 February when he won his first Grammy Award for the recording of Brahms Symphony No. 4 he did with the LA Philharmonic for the Deutsche Grammophon label.

The mop-haired super-conductor currently criss-crosses the globe, juggling a string of high-profile commitments as the principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony in Sweden, the musical director of the LA Philharmonic, and the artistic director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar in Venezuela.

Dudamel and Los Amigos Invisibles blow away LA

Venezuelan musical history was made on Friday, 12 August, when funky-Latin-party popsters Los Amigos Invisibles took to the stage with mop-top conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philarmonic to play five classics from their back catalogue at a packed Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

It was a meeting of two of Venezuela's most accomplished and successful exports: Los Amigos Invisibles, who have created their own distinctive brand of dance-friendly tropical funk, and Dudamel, the hottest property in classical music, who is currently director of the Gothenburg Symphony and the LA Philarmonic, two of the finest orchestras in the world.

The concert included some of the band's best-loved hits, such as En Cuatro, La Vecina and Amor.

Los Amigos Invisibles are currently on a 20th anniversary tour of the USA, Europe and Latin America and will next play at Mexico City's Teatro Metropolitan on 19 August.

As soon as I have a better video I'll post it.