At the very end of last month, following the “Les amis” festival, I was off to Berlin, once more in the quality of a juror ... had I gone back on my word, you might wonder? Not quite, I’ll explain.
A few months back, when Elmar W. attended a recital of mine at Berlin’s Brazilian Embassy, he brought a friend along: together they were inviting me to join them in the Jury of a Competition of... Amateur Pianists! When I heard that contestants who must be 35 or older were otherwise busy people with full time professions outside music -- doctors, engineers, scientists, teachers, I thought surely, this must be a completely different story from the norm, it might mean a relaxed week and plenty of fun...?!
These guys were competing, but with such camaraderie and not for a career; some just for the buzz and excitement of playing publicly; others had tried playing piano when young and wanted to give it another try; quite a few were over 70; the oldest contestant was 83 years old, nearly blind therefore unable to learn anything new so could play only, what he remembered... All for the love of the instrument and its rich repertoire! Having accepted to coach some of the happy losers, instead of a bit of free time I ended up enjoying 9 hours of Master Classes... For the participants, who came in hoards, just in case someone defaulted and they could fight over who could to step in, it was even more of a joy: each one of them so talkative, excited, and keen to show off their prowess to their peers; some amazed at the smallest trick: one of the least aware of them, had no idea what the ‘sordina pedal’ did; yet many of them baffled by the unending subtle possibilities by expert use of that wonder of wonders for pianists: the pedals!
I must say, on hindsight, it was a most humbling, emotional and learning experience. I came out saying to myself: “enjoy your capacities while you have them and live every minute of your life to the full!” Who knows what’s in store for each of us?

From Berlin I was able to fly down to São Paulo to participate in a concert for the 20 th anniversary of the death of my teacher Magda Tagliaferro, thanks to a last minute sponsor. I also went to Rio to stay with my dearly missed cousin Angela and to spend time with my elder daughter who has recently moved there. As luck would have it, her younger sister also happened to be visiting her that week on a very cheap-ticket from Paris with Air France... It was lovely!]
As far as concerts I had 2 commitments this month:

• a most expected “Rach 3” with the ‘future’ version of the Philadelphia Orchestra -- which consists of graduates from the main music school in the US: it is a breath of fresh air to work with talented musicians in the process of learning the business, young and unspoilt , eager to please; under their principal conductor Rossen Milanov’s sure guidance, we put together a totally comprehensive and integrated performance: one real pleasure! I even received a great write-up, for once (v. Press Reviews)!

• a jolly Shostakovich 2, with K-Peter Flor in Guangzhou, on my 1st trip to mainland China. Seeing the way the Chinese are so quickly learning to melt into a western style so that visiting artists feel very much at home, was a discovery. Actually having heard about early attempts, the thing I was most afraid of was the condition of instruments but it wasn’t bad at all: they’ve improved by major leaps!

Coming back to Europe, I had the worst jet-lag of my life to cope with: having gone 5 hours back to Philly for a few days, then 9 hours ahead to China for another few days… Phew... do I blame it on age?! Honestly it unsettled my sleep pattern so badly that it felt as if I could never recover… And still it goes on, as I write this… zzzzzzz.