As winter turns into spring down under, The Australian Youth Orchestra has returned home with memories of their wonderful Chinese and European summer concerts fresh in their minds. First stop on their ambitious tour was China with three concerts – organised through HarrisonParrott’s Shanghai office – in Beijing’s stunning National Center for the Performing Arts, as well as in concert halls in Shanghai and Tianjin. From China the AYO travelled on to Europe for four further performances at the Tivoli Concert Hall, Copenhagen, the BBC Proms, the Harrogate International Festival and finally, a grand finale in the wonderful surroundings of Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw.

The orchestra, conducted by Sir Mark Elder, demonstrated once again that not only is it one of the world’s most prestigious and innovative training organisations for young musicians, but also an ensemble that can hold its head up high on the international stage. Critics at the BBC Proms performance – also broadcast live on BBC television – hailed their ​‘dazzling precision, doleful colour effects and authentic Russian chill’ in Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 with ​‘an adult grasp of emotions and cultural worlds usually thought beyond any teenager, in any hemisphere’. Mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova joined Sir Mark and the AYO for a selection of songs from Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn. In the words of another critic, ​‘If the mature, exciting musicianship on display last night is anything to go by, Australia’s music scene looks securely endowed for the next generation’.