Recitals. Vienna. Duncan's birthday. Taxes. Organizing the bedroom.

It's been a very busy time.  I was chided gently by a friend recently who said, "You've been here for this long and we haven't gotten together?!"

I replied, "What do the words "sheer, blind, panic" mean to you?

The different musical goals that I have set for myself this trip have been met reasonably well; the Vienna concert with Kerry and Allison went smashingly, it has led to the China tour, and we have another performance in Barrie this weekend.  Likewise I feel very happy to have succeeded in auditioning in four times this trip, with another couple still to come.  I have had a couple of lessons with Bruce, and he is happy with how am I sounding, and has a number of things that I need to keep attention on, to keep the voice in a healthy place.  I know of few singers as lucky as I am, to have had  the same teacher for so many years, and to have someone so perceptive, to continue to adjust things as my voice develops throughout my career.

Dina and I have met the challenge of an extremely dramatic and challenging programme; I think that this recital is by far the most difficult thing I have ever had to sing.  The Mahler cycle alone stretches baritone voices to extremes, but the Canadian music is also very challenging, and it all had to be learned for this tour.  Most of the programme was new; eighteen of the twenty-two pieces we did were debuts, for me at least.  But it was worth it; the response has been overwhelmingly positive, and I look forward to singing it with Dina again in Ottawa.  She is really an amazing musician, and the audiences so far have been wowed both by her pianistic fireworks and her delicacy of tone.

But this trip would have been challenging enough without the incredible stresses of the house sorting, cleanout, sale, move, etc.  That process is still going on.  I still have many boxes in a storage unit, and while some of Bruce's house is getting organized, there is still an incredible amount of work to do to get things set up so that a) he can move around in his basement without feeling he is in a warehouse, b) everything that needs to keep dry is properly sealed up and c) everything is labelled and organized so that we can find things again.

And then there are the tax and business refilings that are happening.  I haven't spent this much time using Excel since Bell Canada!  Now I remember why I hate computers and paperwork.  But the light is glimmering at the end of the tunnel.

This week coming I will go to Ottawa to rehearse with Dina in advance of our Ottawa performance on the 8th of May... then it will be back to Toronto to try to get as many things sorted and stored as possible.  The weather hasn't been cooperating at all, which has been frustrating, but I hope that we can make some good progress during the few days before I leave on the 12th May...

Bruce will have some musical guests later on in the month and so I have been doing my best to get the front bedroom organized, and to move things out of the side bedroom.  I think it has worked!

In home news everyone is ok.  Duncan had his birthday this past week, and had a good time, with lots of telephone calls and some presents.  He has decided to wait until the whole family is home to have his birthday party.  I am not the only one absent; Malcolm has been in Budapest all week on a school trip, and comes home on Saturday.

I found some old contact sheets from 2001-2004 or so, so here are some early pictures of Duncan and Maggie and Malcolm, as well as an in progress shot of the front bedroom.

Happy birthday Duncan!