For most of the 90 musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra, Friday morning will be the first time they've seen their instruments in a week.
Following last Friday's concerts, the pieces were packed onto specially made pallets and loaded on trucks for Chicago. The circuitous trip to London continued with a Lufthansa cargo flight to Frankfurt before the journey concluded here. The instruments are now sitting in a truck in a climate-controlled building.
Starting at 6:45 Friday morning, stage crews will start loading into the Royal Albert Hall for the Orchestra's two concerts at the BBC Proms.
"I'm ready to start working," said Dave McKoskey, one of the stage crew members who was hanging around the Royal Garden Hotel Thursday. "I just want to get going."
McKoskey said there were relatively few players who kept their instruments with them – "carriers," they're called.

Watch this space for photos and daily tour updates, or check out the orchestra's own tour blog.