The Italian Maestro and Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra will conduct concerts in Sydney and Melbourne.

Riccardo Muti will conduct the Australian World Orchestra in 2018, it was announced today. The Italian maestro, who is Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, will lead the AWO in three concerts across Sydney and Melbourne in May.

“We are absolutely delighted that Maestro Riccardo Muti, who has not been to Australia for more than 15 years, will conduct the AWO in 2018,” AWO Chief Conductor and Artistic Director Alexander Briger said. “There’s a huge sense of anticipation from the musicians about performing with this great conductor, especially AWO trombonist Michael Mulcahy who has a strong connection with Muti as a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Tobias Lea from the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.”

^{Italian maestro Riccardo Muti. Photo © Todd Rosenberg Photography}

Since its inaugural concerts in 2011, the AWO has performed with a string of high profile conductors, including Sir Simon Rattle, Simone Young and Zubin Mehta.

“One of the phrases that always comes up when describing the AWO...