Sun

Well, we finally enjoyed some nice weather yesterday, just in time for the St. Andrew's church picnic. It was held in Kraainem, on a gorgeous piece of land owned and operated by a catholic church congregation. We all barbequed, but also had lots of fun playing recreational sports. There were enough north americans there that we were able to play some catch, hit a few fly balls, and throw around an "american football". There was also a fair bit of frisbee, and of course lots of "foot" aka soccer.

The day was so warm, and we all ate, drank, played, and socialized so much that we all came back afterwards and had a little siesta before dinner. After the many grey days I feel re-invigorated by the warmth, light, and clarity of the atmophere. Our day is longer here at solstice time than in Toronto, so I think our day yesterday was 16h34min, just one minute shy of the peak day length on the 20th/21st of June just past. That means a sunrise at 5h28 and a sunset at 22h02. Thank goodness for dark curtains, otherwise no one would get any sleep.


The boys' exams are now completely finished, and we are waiting until tomorrow to find out the results. I am sure there will be no problem; I really don't think, from talking with other parents, that the CEB exams (Malcolm) are particularly difficult. He should be fine. We did find out his music marks: 85 for flute traversiere and 90 in solfege, so that's good news. He's signed up now for another year of both, and Duncan is renewed for rhythmique and his own class of solfege, and on the waiting list for theatre arts and saxophone. I hope he gets both; he's certainly comfortable performing in front of people, and there are plenty of antecedents for sax in his family: my uncle gus, my sisters and brother in law were all amateur saxophonists, our friend Shelley is a professional one, and where better to learn the saxophone but in the country of birth of its creater, Adolph Sax?


Maggie is finished school now, and we are having an unusual day of being home with no children. This morning started with a long walk into the forest of Tervuren, and now we are off to do some bicycle comparison shopping, and do a little food shopping as well... it's another gorgeous day so I think more bbq is in the forecast for us this evening.

I wrote in the last post about the solo baritone cantata I'll be doing in Brussels, but I just have received another even more exciting project for the coming season... I have been offered the role of "General Boum" in Offenbach's La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein, with four performances. The first one in October 2011 will be performed in concert, but the three that follow in December will be staged, and it will be great to perform a french piece, with french dialogue, in Brussels and Louvain, with a cast of talented singing actors. It's also a nice change to do something funny, instead of all the serious music I've been doing, and it shows a completely different side of my professional character, which is great...

All this means that I am looking ahead to a varied mix of familiar and new music, of pieces staged, in recital and in concert... I am very fortunate to have lots to occupy me artistically in 2011-2012... but I'm not done yet, there's still lots more auditions to sing, CDs to mail out and phone numbers to call.

Happy end of the school year to everyone, enjoy your summer vacation!