Venezuelan Pianist to Play at Obama Inauguration

Si se puede! A Venezuelan pianist groomed by the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra will be performing at the inauguration of President elect Obama next week.

Her name is Gabriel Montero. She will perform with the master cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Itzhak Perlman, and clarenetist Anthony McGill — get this — right before Barack Obama takes the oath of office.

Montero says: “I’m very excited to be part of this great day. It’s going to be a great moment for the entire world.”

Montero is now a naturalized U.S. citizen. She first came north on an educational scholarship from the Venezuelan government.

In the clip below, watch her take a silly ditty that is the theme song for the BBC children’s program The Wombles and turn it into an amazingly beautiful improvised piece. Improvisation is Montero’s trademark, according to the New York Times.

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Venezuela’s Guillen: Why Can’t We Be Friends?

Ozzie Guillen is tired of the sour tone of U.S.-Venezuela relations in recent years.

Speaking from his home in Caracas, the Chicago White Sox manager weighed in on the financial crisis and the effect it may have on baseball. He said that “teams will have to look for alternatives, work with lower salaries.”

Guillen also expressed hope that President-elect Obama and Venezuela’s Chavez will strengthen relations. The AP reports that he added, “I’m not asking them to be great friends, but at least that they shake hands.”

After all, trade between the U.S. and Venezuela rose by about 50 percent in 2008.

Hopefully Santa Claus was listening.

Guillen is in Caracas to give Christmas gifts to children with cancer through his Oswaldo Guillen Foundation. Next year, he hopes to do the same thing in Chicago.

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