What a summer it's been! In the span of the past four months, I traveled one and a half times around the world, crossing the Atlantic once and the Pacific twice. It's really been such a fun and fulfilling summer of music-making, spending time with family and friends, and getting to work with young people. So without further ado, here is a recap of some highlights and milestones.
1. May 2023: TJS Graduation // Concerts and Masterclass in Thailand
I graduated! I was super honoured to have the opportunity to perform as part of Tianjin Juilliard's second Commencement Ceremony with my friend and dear roommate Polina Charnetskaia. I made it onto the Dean's List (yay!) and felt so touched to have been awarded the Tianjin Juilliard Prize (I even made it onto the local news?!). So thankful for the amazing faculty for the past two years and my most supportive colleagues and friends - I hope our paths will cross again soon!
It was deeply melancholic to say goodbye to the beautiful Tianjin campus but I hope I'll get the chance to visit again in the future.
Next, I flew to visit Thailand for the first time! I had the wonderful opportunity of giving two concerts in Bangkok with my new trumpet-piano duo (with trumpeter Jid-anan (Stamp) Netthai), Thunderbird Duo and working with students at the Horwang Music Academy. It was great fun and I ate too much yummy food.
2. June 2023: Back in Toronto for the Ihnatowycz Celebration
It was good to be back in Canada for the first time in nearly two years and just in time to perform with La Fiammata in the Ihnatowycz 10th Anniversary Celebration concert along with friends and colleagues who are fellow alumni of the Piano Program. And I was happy to participate in saying a big thank you to the Ihnatowycz family who has given so much to music students over the past ten years.
3. July 2023: Family Time in Fujian and Malaysia // Chamber Competition in Bangkok
After being back home in Vancouver for a few weeks, it was time to get back on the road once again - back to Asia. I spent a few weeks back in the south of China and Malaysia with my family - eating even more yummy food and trying (and failing) to escape the unforgiving heat. (Dear readers, if ever you are in the Fujian province in China - hit me up for some food recommendations!!) But I also got to practice on an old Steinway from the 50s! Somehow it was a really enriching experience and I felt that I learned a lot from playing this instrument.
Since I was in Southeast Asia once again, I decided to go back to Bangkok and entered the Princess Galyani Vadhana International Ensemble Competition with Thunderbird Duo! With a few short hours of rehearsal, we were very lucky to win second prize in the competition. We were also asked to give a short performance and masterclass at the Royal Thai Air Force School of Music and had a great time working with the students.
On the way back home, I made a quick stop in Tokyo to see dear Hanae Yoshida - the trombonist for my duo SOLA 宇宙. And then it was back home and back to work!
4. August 2023: Rehearsals and Concerts in Ontario with La Fiammata
Back in Canada, I started rehearsing with Charissa in preparation for our tour this coming season. After a few weeks of intense rehearsals in Vancouver, we headed to Toronto to give a series of three concerts called "Heart to Heart" featuring music of Beethoven, Alice Ping Yee Ho, Schubert, and John Corigliano in Ontario to cap off our summer season.
First stop: Avenue Road Music and Performing Arts Academy in Toronto
Second stop: Leith Summer Festival in Annan
Our first time in Leith and we didn't realize the church was right next to the cemetery where artist Tom Thomson was buried - and he, in fact, grew up in this area for much of his early life. And we could see still the beautiful scenery that inspired his paintings.
Third and Last Stop (for now): Music Mondays in Toronto
When Alice Ho reached out to say she would be coming to our concert - we were beyond thrilled and so excited to meet her in person. It was very lovely to meet her and to hear her thoughts and inspirations behind her piece "Heart to Heart". It was so nice to be back in Toronto!
Truly so thankful for all the opportunities this past summer and for all the invitations and the hard work of organizers to create these wonderful events! So thank you so so much.
I suppose each of these little sections could have been a blog post of its own but I enjoyed reliving all of the wonderful memories from this past summer. And I look forward to making more wonderful memories for the season to come as La Fiammata is back on the road.
We'll be heading out to Atlantic Canada to begin the first leg of our Pan-Canadian Tour - so if you're in that area, be sure to check out the "Concerts" tab on my website to see the full detailed schedule.
If you've read this far, thank you, and be sure to leave me a comment if you have any feedback or thoughts - you can also privately submit it through the contact form on my website. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to my bimonthly newsletters to keep up-to-date with my activities!
All the best until next time!
Linda