The month of January was an incredibly busy one, but immensely rewarding. Touring North America with Anne Sofie von Otter (congratulations on her Grammy Award, just announced!) was a total delight from start to finish. We had wonderful audiences everywhere and the warmth that came from her on stage was reflected from the audience. Playing for a singer of her calibre and artistry is one of the great joys of my life. At our concert in San Francisco, we had in the audience not only Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden (and her husband Prince Daniel), but also the pianist Yuja Wang and pop star Elvis Costello. That was quite a mix! When we had a few days off, I filled them in with solo recitals in Ontario, including one in my home town of Ottawa. Dominion-Chalmers Church was packed to the rafters on a very cold night (-27C). Playing on my own Fazioli was a bonus. It was also very moving to play a concert in memory of the great Canadian author Farley Mowat in his home town of Port Hope. Broadcaster Eric Friesen hosted the recital, and film footage was shown of Farley—who was a huge fan of mine. When I got home from that tour, I immediately went to Switzerland to play a recital near Zurich—then repeated the mixed programme at the Dulwich Picture Gallery and at Shrewsbury School. I must say it’s interesting to perform in all these very different places, even if the travel makes it exhausting. A few days of peace in Umbria (peace to learn new pieces…), and now I’m back on the road, on my way to Sweden to perform Bach Concertos with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra.
