Rome: The conductor of the Senzaspine Orchestra made a surprise wedding proposal on stage during the traditional end-of-year concert at Teatro Duse in Bologna on Monday night.

Matteo Parmeggiani, co-founder of the orchestra, waited until the end of the Bollicine concert to publicly ask for the hand of flautist Annamaria Di Lauro, to the amazement of the large audience.

“Annamaria, will you marry me?”, said Parmeggiani, on bended knee, amid wild applause from the public.

As the couple embraced, the other founder of Senzaspine, Tommasso Ussardi, stepped in to conduct the orchestra in a rendition of the Waltz of the Flowers from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker.