Thanks to the excellent road nextwork in northen Italy, our 310k bus trip from Blozano to Milano on Tuesday 30 September was uneventuful and the Sydney Symphony arrived in Milano in time for some very quick sightseeing before our second performance of the tour at the Auditorium di Milano on Tuesday night. It was a delight for the Orchestra to perform in the 1400 seat Auditorium which had a bright and lively acoustic. A very enthusiastic near capacity audience braved a public transport strike to hear the Sydney Symphony perform our Ravel and Lim program.
Australia's Consul General in Milan, Tim Gauci and a number of Milan based Australians attended the concert along with representatives of Tourism NSW and a large group of Italian tourism operators. Representing the Hon Ian Macdonald, NSW Minister for Primary Industries, Energy, Mineral Resources and State Development, Richard Sheldrake, Director General of the NSW Department of Primary Industries and his wife Carol flew in to attend the concert and meet with representatives of Australian Wool Innovation who
sponsored the Milan concert. While in Milan, Mr Sheldrake also met with north Italian importers of Australian fine wool and contacts of AWI.
We were delighted that the Sydney Morning Herald's European correspondent Paola Totaro also flew into Milan to cover our visit and performance. And it was a great pleasure to meet with Mr and Mrs Hefti-Meni who won the Kambly prize of a trip to Milan to hear the Orchestra (Kambly is presenting partner of the Orchestra's Tea and Symphony Series).
After the peformance, the Orchestra and our guests celebrated our Milan visit and William Barton generously provided everyone with an extra special performance on the didgeridoo.
The Orchestra arrived in Torino (Turin) on Wednesday afternoon with little time to explore this gracious former capital of the Kingdom of Italy. Our performance at the prestigious Auditorium Giovanni Agnelli del Lingotto was the first concert of the 2008/9 season and once again, a large and appreciative audience gave the Sydney Symphony, Maestro
Australia's Consul General in Milan, Tim Gauci and a number of Milan based Australians attended the concert along with representatives of Tourism NSW and a large group of Italian tourism operators. Representing the Hon Ian Macdonald, NSW Minister for Primary Industries, Energy, Mineral Resources and State Development, Richard Sheldrake, Director General of the NSW Department of Primary Industries and his wife Carol flew in to attend the concert and meet with representatives of Australian Wool Innovation who
sponsored the Milan concert. While in Milan, Mr Sheldrake also met with north Italian importers of Australian fine wool and contacts of AWI.We were delighted that the Sydney Morning Herald's European correspondent Paola Totaro also flew into Milan to cover our visit and performance. And it was a great pleasure to meet with Mr and Mrs Hefti-Meni who won the Kambly prize of a trip to Milan to hear the Orchestra (Kambly is presenting partner of the Orchestra's Tea and Symphony Series).
After the peformance, the Orchestra and our guests celebrated our Milan visit and William Barton generously provided everyone with an extra special performance on the didgeridoo.
The Orchestra arrived in Torino (Turin) on Wednesday afternoon with little time to explore this gracious former capital of the Kingdom of Italy. Our performance at the prestigious Auditorium Giovanni Agnelli del Lingotto was the first concert of the 2008/9 season and once again, a large and appreciative audience gave the Sydney Symphony, Maestro
Gelmetti, Rosamund Plummer and William Barton a 
very warm welcome. The Auditorium is situtaed in the former FIAT factory, the Lingotto complex and Orchestra were able to stay in the complex which has been renovated in true Itaian style. As in Merano and Milano, our program of Ravel and Lim delighted the audience and William Barton played an encore on the didgeridoo which will be remembered in Turin for some time to come.
On Thursday 2 October, we took the long bus trip from Turin to Siena (480k). The Orchestra is in great spirits and in spite of the gruelling schedule are being energised by the support and interest of the Italian public and the camaraderie which is part of the touring experience.
The Orchestra has a free day in Siena today, Friday 3 October, before this evening's performance.
very warm welcome. The Auditorium is situtaed in the former FIAT factory, the Lingotto complex and Orchestra were able to stay in the complex which has been renovated in true Itaian style. As in Merano and Milano, our program of Ravel and Lim delighted the audience and William Barton played an encore on the didgeridoo which will be remembered in Turin for some time to come.On Thursday 2 October, we took the long bus trip from Turin to Siena (480k). The Orchestra is in great spirits and in spite of the gruelling schedule are being energised by the support and interest of the Italian public and the camaraderie which is part of the touring experience.
The Orchestra has a free day in Siena today, Friday 3 October, before this evening's performance.
