There can be few other more pleasant ways to spend a summer night in the city than sitting outside listening to live music as the sun goes down. Today I made an early trek to the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne’s Kings Domain Gardens to get a good spot for a night of free classical music performed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Diego Matheuz, who I’m reliably informed is something of a young whizz in the world of classical music.

We enjoyed a picnic as the sun began to set and the Orchestra played. Bats flew around above the gathered crowd of more than nine thousands people. I’m no classical music expert, but I can tell you we listened to Kodaly’s Dances of Galanta, Liszt’s Piano Concerto No.1 in E flat major, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.5 in E minor, Op.64.

It was the third of four such free concerts at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. The concerts are a favorite annual summertime tradition in Melbourne and are funded in part by the philanthropic Sidney Myer Fund.