With Maestro Daniel Meyer after our performance of the Schumann Piano Concerto with the Lexington (Kentucky) Philharmonic at the Singletary Center for the Arts, in February 2008.  It was a memorable concert for me as the review stated that I played with astonishing verve.  Of course, that's easy to do with such a fine orchestra and conductor.  My only regret was not having time to visit some of the local horse ranches - backbone of the Kentucky Derby.

Sara Buechner joins the Hanshin Tigers!  In December 2007 I was invited to meet the owner of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team, Mr. Tsuneaki Miyazaki, at historic Koshien Stadium in Nashinomiya.  Having learned of my fandom for the team, Mr. Miyazaki extended a warm personal welcome to this unusual Torakichi ("Tiger-crazy-person").  What I did not expect was a press conference with about 30 Japanese sports page writers and photographers.  You can now find photos of me in all the dailies, mostly being anointed with a Hanshin Tigers cap as a new member of the team.

After a recital at the Tom Lee Music Center in downtown Vancouver, Spring 2006m, I performed some four-hand duets of Yoshinao Nakada with my Doctoral pupil Sabina Park. Chuck Gorling, head of the piano division at Tom Lee, is presenting us with two lovely bouquets.

On a broiling day in August 2006, I visited Hiroshima with the eminent musicologist Michael Tenzer (a colleague at UBC) and his family, pictured here. We dined at a locally famous okonomiyaki restaurant, apparently a favorite hangout of well-known Japanese baseball players. Their souvenir name cards adorn the wall directly behind us. I was pleased as could be when I was given the seat once used by Hanshin Tiger outfielder Tomonori Kanemoto -- a slight brush with international sports fame for this piano player.

In production of my latest CD (chamber music of Rudolf Friml, with violinist Stephanie Chase), listening to playbacks with producer Susan Del Giorno of Koch International, October 2005. It takes three days of playing to produce an unedited recording, during which I will be at the piano for six to eight intensive hours per day. Later Susan will do the arduous work of selecting takes and splicing them together, after which I usually write the program notes myself and help to choose the CD artwork. Recordings are, I feel, my most important work. They will be around long after me! I've been fortunate to enjoy a long relationship with Koch and there are many exciting recording projects ahead.

In the summer of 2005 I was an adjudicator for the International Rudolf Firkusny Paino Competition, in the beautiful city of Prague. It was an honor to be a juror for this competition, named after my beloved teacher at Juilliard and one of the greatest musicians it has been my privilege to know. The photo here of the Rudolfinum where the finals of the competition were held, gives a small idea of some of the architectural wonder of this Eastern European capital. Prague is an easy city to fall in love with. In this photo of the jury, taken in the Klementinum Library, my head is peeking out from the back of the crowd. They were a distinguished bunch, and I am pleased to report there were no squabbles or fistfights among us.

After my 2004 debut with the McGill Chamber Orchestra, with conductor Boris Brott. On this occasion I played three concerti  in one evening: Mozart KV 449 in E flat major, Joaquin Turina's Rapsodica Sinfonica, and Hindemith's “The Four  Temperaments."  It was a rare opportunity to share music-making on the highest level, with an extraordinary group of musicians and their inspired leader.        

ブリティッシュ・コロンビア大学へピアノの教授として移る直前に、マーク・モリスダンスグループの音楽監督にならないか、というお誘いがありました。お断りするのは非常に心苦しかったのですが、やはりソロ・ピアノのほうが好きですし、大学も非常に良い条件で迎えてくれることになっていました。それに、世界中でもっとも美しい都sのひとつといわれるバンクーバー、誰がこれに抵抗することができるというのでしょう。

それでも2003年の1撃ヘオーストラリアのシドニー・フェスティバルにダンサー達とツアーで参加し、素晴らしい時間を過ごしました。　この写真は、ニューサウスウェルズ州の知魔ェ主催したレセプションで、モリスの優秀な若手ダンサーの一人であるマイル・オカムラと一緒に、南半球の太陽を楽しんでいるところです。