Brahms "Ein Deutsches Requiem" in November 2007

As I mentioned in an earlier posting, it looks like I'll be back in Toronto for one, and perhaps two performances this autumn.

The confirmed one is the Brahms Requiem, and will be performed in the evening on November 8th, 2007, at the George Weston Recital Hall, Toronto Centre for the Arts with Kerry Stratton and the Toronto Philharmonia. The second one is as yet unconfirmed, so I can't say more about it, only that it is around the same time. It's good to have more than thing happening here in Canada close together, as it makes the expense of flying a little more manageable.

* * *

Our preparations for leaving our Toronto house are proceeding apace. The accountant arrives this afternoon to go through some tax information with us, and the bulk of the house is packed. We've purchased a new notebook computer, and plan to transfer information from our home desktop machine to the more portable one while staying with my parents in Belleville.

My anxiety level has been rather high, and neither of us are sleeping much; we are so concerned with getting out of here that we've had little time to think about what we will be doing when we have gone. The differences between the two kinds of moving (1) moving your entire house to another one in a matter of a few days and 2) storing most of your household for an extended unknown period, and taking only a few things along) is extreme.

Back to work!

Living out of a suitcase...

The children left yesterday afternoon to go to stay with my parents; we'll join them on Saturday, after we've loaded up the car with our remaining things. It has been extremely stressful, packing things up, because we are trying to figure out what we will need for the next month-and-a-half, in several different environments. After Saturday we have to plan for:

• eight days canoeing/cottaging
• seven days working from my parent's home office
• six days with my parents, after finishing work
  
• flying to Brussels
• 17 days in a beautiful country loft in Glons, near Liege
• and then finally moving into the house at 122 rue des archives on the 7th of September

So as you can imagine, it can be exhausting to try to think ahead that much. For example, I need to consider what I will be taking from a work perspective, but also need to think ahead about sample recordings, photographs, CVs and Bios, etc. As well, we are trying to get a number of administrative things done before we leave the house. It would appear that some of them, at least (the certification by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of my medical certificate, for example) will have to wait until I come back to Toronto in early August.

We've found the social schedule very enjoyable but also very exhausting; the personal pressures to connect with friends and family, and the pressure to complete certain tasks prior to leaving, are to some extent in competition with each other. I can't imagine how we will feel when we arrive in Glons for two weeks of relaxing!

This evening we have to:

• prepare for a meeting tomorrow with the accountant
• continue the last bits of packing of our personal and professional items
  
• complete our Schengen Visa applications
  
• arrange and assemble my promotional materials
  

as well as a host of other tasks. This post is therefore ending here; I'll post again after we're in Belleville and out of the house.

"Bon Fromage" party

This past Saturday we had a lovely sendoff at Bruce's house, organized by Trixie and Bruce. Lots of family and friends were there, and we enjoyed a barbeque, beverages and much good conversation (photos are available here).

Central to many of the conversations were questions about when we are flying, how the packing is going and when we are accepting visitors!

To respond, the packing is not extensive but it is significant, and is proceeding, perhaps not as quickly as we would like. We are out of our Toronto house in a bit less than two weeks, so time is rushing on... After moving out, we will be canoeing in Algonquin and cottaging from the 28th of July to August 7th. From the 7th to the 20th we'll most likely be in Belleville, staying with my parents. We fly out of Toronto on the evening of the 20th, and are still finalizing out our accomodations in Belgium between the 21st and our moving into the Brussels house on the 7th of September. (More to come on this later as it develops). My thought is that we will spend some vacationing time exploring Brussels, Liege, the Ardennes, etc.

We have come to realize how much we now enjoy, and will miss, the company of our many friends and relations here in Toronto. It certainly has struck home for me, now that the next big project is the move to Brussels, how much I care for the people in this community, and this realization makes me think about the support that we will need, and look for, while living abroad. Overwhelmingly, our friends and family have been thrilled and inspired by our upcoming adventure, and excited for us.

As for the question of when they can visit, the visitors' calendar at the end of this blog should now be up and working; please take a look and send me an email and we'll block off the days when you are staying with us! We've already got some visitors booked for spring 2008; let's keep those emails coming...