Yo MA MA (AP)

Ma came to Venezuela to perform with conductor Gustavo Dudamel and his Simon Bolivar Youth Symphony Orchestra, but also took time to listen to youth orchestras at a Caracas music school.

The cellist applauded after each performance, hugged the young musicians and praised their emotion and "incredible use of power."

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He said he came away from a session with young cellists feeling that he was "in the process of learning something tremendous."

"I came only with the expectation to learn a lot, and I'm very much overwhelmed," Ma said.

Ma is the latest of several top musicians -- including violinist Itzhak Perlman and Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez -- who have come to Caracas to perform with Dudamel, who debuts in October as musical director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

The series of high-profile performances is also drawing increasing attention to the National System of Youth and Children's Orchestras of Venezuela.

"The System," as it's known here, has provided musical training and instruments to young people since 1975 and has been used as a model for similar programs in other countries.