The Minnesota Orchestra played to a sold-out house on Friday night in the first performance in Cuba by a full professional US orchestra since 1999, coming just months after the two Cold War rivals announced a thaw in relations.

A few of the visiting Americans speak Spanish, but "the universal language of music" was all they needed that night, says Mele Willis, the orchestra's artistic operations manager.

The performance at the 2,000-seat National Theater, which was broadcast live in Cuba and over Minnesota Public Radio, included famed Cuban pianist Frank Fernandez and the Cuban National Choir. Fernandez was presented with a bouquet, then pulled some of the flowers loose and handed them to a few of the Americans in the orchestra.