Venezuela's National System of Youth and Children's Orchestras - known as "El Sistema" - has set a new Guinness record for the world's largest orchestra.
A week ago more than 12,000 musicians played a classical piece together for more than five minutes as they sought to beat a Russian record that was set two years ago.
Venezuela's Information Minister Freddy Nanez and the Russian ambassador in Caracas, Sergey Melik-Bagdasarov, congratulated the musicians on Saturday in an address broadcast on state television.
The broadcast included a recording of Guinness World Records expert Susana Reyes announcing that the Venezuelan musicians had been successful in setting a new record after they played La Marche Slave by Pyotr Tchaikovsky for more than five minutes.
Guinness World Records did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
"El Sistema" counts some 350,000 children and youths among its rank, playing in a network of 180 orchestras.


Reddit sues Australia over social media ban
Eurovision winner Nemo to send trophy back in protest over Israel's participation
World-famous cellist Hauser to perform in Abu Dhabi
BRIDGE Summit: Bassem Yousef says satire isn't meant to fix the world
Jared Harris tells content creators to prioritise storytelling over tech at BRIDGE
