Giacomo Meyerbeer his family. He arrived in Italy at the beginning of 1816, after visits to Paris and London, where he heard Cramer play. In Paris, he wrote to a friend, 'I go from museum to museum, library to library, theatre to theatre, with the restlessness of the Wandering Jew'. During his years in Italy Meyerbeer became acquainted with, and impressed by, the works of his contemporary Gioachino Rossini, who by 1816, at the age of 24, was already director of both major opera houses in Naples and in the same year premiered his operas "The Barber of Seville" and "Otello". Meyerbeer
Conservatorio Statale di Musica "Gioachino Rossini" the surrounding region during the year, including those celebrating Christmas, Easter, Ferragosto, May Day, Festa della Repubblica, and Saint Cecilia's Day. The conservatory also co-produces Progetto Orfeo, an international university festival of opera and musical theatre, and runs two national music competitions, Harpsichord (established in 1991) and Bassoon (established in 2004). The Palazzo Olivieri–Machirelli on the Piazza Olivieri is home to both the conservatory and the Fondazione Rossini, a centre for Rossini scholarship which organizes the annual Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. The neo-classical palazzo with its monumental central staircase was built in 1794 for Annibale Olivieri, a member of