On the Road

We finished our residency in La Serena a few days ago and we are now officially on tour which is a nice change of pace. It was nice to be in Vina del Mar and Valaparaiso because of how different both cities are from any other place I've seen and it was really special to meet Ed's family. I was finally able to see the place where he spent his summers and meet people I had only seen in pictures. His cousin and uncle gave us a whirlwind tour around the area through the winding, roller-coaster like streets. We took a cable car up the mountainside to a great view of the port, stopped quickly at La Sebastiana, the house of poet Pablo Neruda, saw the naval academies and former university of Ed's mother and had lunch at a local cafe. Later in the evening we performed a well-received concert in a hall with fantastic acoustics. It was our last performance with Ben Zander but our first performance with Ed's family present. It was very special. It was very sweet to see all of his family sitting practically at his side throughout the concert. I am thankful that many of his family members knew some English but it is a personal goal of mine to be able to communicate in Spanish with them the next time. I am getting much better at understanding what I'm hearing but I'm still far away from saying more than a few words at a time.

We are now in Santiago where about half of the Chilean population lives. It is a very modern city with all of the comforts I am used to. I miss the charm of Vina and Valaparaiso but our business-district hotel is fantastic and there is a beautiful mall just around the corner. The Andes are also a welcome site while walking around and glancing out the window.

We had the rare opportunity to meet yet another wonderful and successful artist on this trip, Placido Domingo. He met with us and gave a short presentation on realizing your goals and how to manage your life and outlook. We were also invited to watch him conduct and sing in a dress rehearsal with the orchestra in Santiago. A theme I am finding with all of the successful people we are meeting on this trip, including the board members, professors, artists, conductors etc., is that they are all very wonderful and gracious people that truly work hard with a clear set of goals and a mind and spirit that is always open to new ideas and possibilities. One thing we have heard time and time again is that it is not rare to be born with talent but it is rare to have the discipline and openness to actually pursue whatever it is you have the potential to do. You must do it in a way that allows you to connect with people from the present and past that will help lead you to possibilities in the future. Enough philosophy for now. Time to get a quick yoga and practice session in before a reception and chamber concert with our board members. RKV

A beautiful cafe/hotel in the hills of Valparaiso!