Merry Christmas!

I think this will be our version of a Christmas Letter, and I'll not only post this to the blog but also to Facebook.

We are enjoying a brief quiet time now after a very busy year.  For the first time in four years I didn't go back to Canada in November/December but was very busy and happily occupied in work close to home.  All of the contracts performed so far this season were from referrals and repeat engagements, so the career momentum here is growing fast.  Several "firsts" this year include my Amsterdam debut, Messiah performances with original instruments, Carmina Burana, a solo Bach cantata in Brussels, and my stage debut in La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein.  As well there were artistic successes in Canada, like the Schubert tour with Dina, the workshop to prepare a new John Burge chamber opera for June 2012, and so on...

The french say "Il faut profiter du soleil" and so for us as a family, we spent a good portion of our vacation time exploring other parts of Europe, with a New Year's Eve visit with friends in Vilnius, Lithuania, and summer holidays in Croatia, England and Scotland.  Malcolm skied for a week in Nendaz, Switzerland, and he entered secondary school at Jean Absil, with great marks in science, geography, history and math.  Duncan became more independent while he continued his studies with very high marks at La Futaie; both made considerable musical progress, receiving their choir robes at St. Andrews, and continuing their studies at the Academie de Musique in flute and music theory (M) and clarinet, music theory, and dramatic arts (D).

Maggie made a successful transition to middle school, and is now happily teaching social studies to ninety sixth-graders.  This change comes with many challenges but also benefits, such as opportunities to use curriculum design skills she honed while in Toronto at the School Board.  She also heads off this coming month for her own week of skiing in Anzere, Switzerland as a chaperone to these children.  (Jealous!).  She's also been happy to have her second year of clear test results.

We've had a number of visitors over the year: American mezzo Carla Dirlikov spent some time with us in January, and then things were quiet until painter and teacher Darren Degenova stayed with us in July.  Then we had Maggie's parents for a good long visit over the Toussaint holiday in October/November, and then Bruce came for two weeks at the end of December, and it was great to have him attend some rehearsals and even see me perform in a Christmas concert.  We even managed a brief tour of Brussels for friends and colleagues from Toronto who were enroute to Latvia, and who only had a few hours stopover, so if you happen to be passing through, please let us know, we are always keen to be impromptu tour guides in our adopted home city.

We are all looking ahead with anticipation to this summer, when we plan to spend five or six weeks in Canada.  We have found a house exchange partnership with a family in Riverdale, Toronto, and will be trading houses for the month of July, and are looking forward to spending time with friends and family.  I go to Canada myself prior to our holiday, first in February and March for a raft of projects including Müllerin, "Eisenstein" in Die Fledermaus, the Haydn Creation and an opera duet concert with Bruce in Ottawa, before coming back to Belgium for Die Schöpfung, and then returning to Canada for a chamber opera in Campbellford in mid-June... if you are interested in more information about these upcoming events, please check out my performance schedule here.

We look forward to hearing from you over the coming year, and send you all our best wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2012!

Love,
Matthew, Maggie, Malcolm and Duncan