July 2008

I decided to include a 2-week vacation in conjunction with playing at the International Piano Amateurs Festival (http://www.ipaf.fr). The trip was nonstop and tons of fun. I first headed to Amsterdam, which was a very nice experience. The first thing that struck me was how many bicycles there were in the city. The cyclists have the right of way, and they have their own lanes (something that is definitely not the case in Toronto). I was inspired at the Van Gough museum, especially after I realized that he only started painting in the last ten years of his life. I was also surprised to catch one of my favorite musicians, Ben Folds, at the famous Paradiso club.

Next stop was Brussels, where I have family. I usually try to stop by Brussels on my way to Paris, for rest and good food. I mean, come on...french fries, waffles, mussels, beer...you can’t go wrong. Plus, it is a great reason to visit my favorite chocolate store, Pierre Marcolini!

The IPAF festival was already under way when I arrived in Paris. I was staying at one of the organizers’ place, Dominique Xardel. His apartment had one of the most unique elevators I have ever seen.

It was wonderful to see the program filled with pianists who had won prizes in different amateur competitions from around the world. I was happy also to visit with friends, new and old. The level throughout the festival was incredible. One can’t help but think that all these players have separate professional careers alongside their passion for music. It’s very encouraging, and also a bit daunting.

My first piece was slow and required much concentration, but I was happy to perform it well. In fact, I hadn’t sweated like I did in a long time. I played an all-French program with Debussy, Ravel and Dutilleux. You can catch some of the performances already on YouTube, as Robert Finley (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rsfpiano+ipaf&search_type=&aq=f) has put them up. On my videos you can hear the people coming in between movements of my Debussy Images Book I. Not only that, the audience applauded between the movements. I was not quite prepared for the breaks, so I had to really take my time to get back into the zone. Once again, the Paris audience proved themselves to be as worthy as a Saskatchewan crowd. I think they were still applauding for a second encore, but I did not return to the stage, as I really didn’t have anything left to play. Anyways, thanks Robert for the videos! Radio France recorded the performance, and will broadcast at a later date. The quality is incredible, so I will post some audio or video clips on this website in the coming weeks. Thanks again to Julien and Dominique for their hospitality and for putting together a successful festival. There is already talk of moving the festival to different countries. I have always wanted to visit Rio…

The next leg of my trip was to Andalucia in the South of Spain. This was the part of the trip I looked most forward to...plus 30 beach weather! Cadiz was a blast, as was Marbella. I wonder if there is a shortage of periodontists in Spain, because that is a lifestyle worth getting used to. Not all time was spent on the beach, of course, as there were many cathedrals, castles and flamenco shows to catch. 

Ond of the highlights of this leg was visitng the Rock of Gibraltar. This is a British colony, so passports were needed. There were caves to explore, and a bunch of Macaque Monkeys all over the rock, free to roam as they please. I ate nothing but tapas, most of which I had no idea what it was. For instance, does anyone know what Tocino de Cielo is?

The final part of the trip was a visit to one of the IPAF organizers’ house, Julien Kurtz. His place is in a tiny village called Sahune, just outside of Nyons. I was picturing the trip to the south of France as very glitzy, but this was a different experience altogether. We went exploring in canyons, waist deep in water with vultures looming at the summit, jumping off little waterfalls. We also went spelunking, a term used to explore caves (that’s me in the back of the photo). Unfortunately we were not equipped to desend that far down, but it was exhausting nonetheless.

The trip was amazing, but within a blink of an eye I am now back in Toronto, and back to work. I am preparing next for the big recital back in Marysburg. This recital is very dear to me, as it was how I met Al Gerwing (http://www.thomasyu.ca/page/blog-post/alphonse-gerwing-1923-2007/). If you are any where near Saskatchewan, do come out to the show. I will be playing more new music, including a possible Liszt sonata. That all depends on how hard I practice over the next 2 weeks. The next time I will be back in Paris is October, and I already can’t wait.