Annual Suzuki Concert ... Perth

 
As you can see, my life here strongly resembles the life I had in Cork! On Sunday we had the annual concert of the String Teachers of STEAA(WA). As President, I had to address the crowd at the beginning to welcome them to the celebration of the Suzuki method. This concert is the culmination of the year's work, and particularly of the Saturday afternoon group classes. It was also the big debut of Finn and Oliver. You can see them on the right of the group photo. This was at the start of the concert where all of the children played the Twinkle Variations together. George took some great photos of the event.
 

The Finn and Oliver fan club was out in force!
 
 

The good news ...

Friday lunch

 
 
 
We had lunch in the coast on Friday at The Naked Fig restaurant in Swanbourne. A beautiful setting on the ocean front.

SNOW?

 
 
NO!. Only sun and heat! It was in mid 30's as the annual Nick O'Hern charity competition was played on Friday morning. Nick was accompanied by Scott Strange again this year. Sadly, Adam Gilchrist (Gilly) who is also a supporter of the charity was unable to take part because he's involved in the Ashes in Brisbane.

Pachelbel Rant

... for those who like to hate Pachelbel's famous tune!

Top Score

 
 
Guess who got it right last Thursday? The drives were straight, the second shots too were straight and the putts dropped. Excellent!

Berlin Phil night

 
This was taken in the foyer of the beautiful Duxton Hotel which is next door to Perth Concert Hall. We were having pre-concert drinks with Mags and Hugh before the Berlin Phil Sunday evening concert. As you can see, it was a special evening - hence the dress-up!

Party at 193

 
 
 
 
Mags and Hugh had a 'busy bee' party on Saturday. The idea was to get help with the garden-jungle. However, ozzies prefer to chat and eat!

Jubilee Bowl at Mt Lawley

 
Yesterday, George and I took part in the annual Jubilee Bowl, a mixed foursomes Par event which has been sponsored by the Dryen family in Mt Lawley for many years. We were invited by Gayle Dryen who was partnered by the club vice-president Milan Chetkovich. 124 players took part. Our fourball fought fiercly for a dollar - and G and I won it - G played great golf. Overall G and I were joint second with 10-up. The winners were 14-up. It was a lovely November day - 29 degrees with some (welcome!)cloud cover. That was a 'cool' day this week. We've had temps into the high 30's and even topping 40 occasionally.

MVHY Stringfever Bolero

Never my favourite piece of music - even less so now!

Chooks

Mags and Hugh have three new pets - edible ones! They are Orpington chicks - will grow very large - will give an egg a day - and then they're dinner. Yum!

 
 

 
 
 
 

Orange trees

 
 
These treess are known as the Australian Christmas Tree - because they blossom around Christmas time - but ... an orange Christmas Tree? - some things I'll never get used to!

Jacaranda close-up

 
 
Am still stunned by these beautiful trees.

AWESOME

 
 
Last night we heard the orchestra play Mahler's first symphony. It was awesome. Unbelievably unified in their approach to every note, every phrase, every nuance. You can hear them on their digitalconcerthall site.
They have a blog for their trip. Pity I don't read German!

Spoiled for choice

There are lots of lovely events coming up in the next few weeks.

 

Sunset on Sorrento beach

After the Berlin Phil concert we took a walk on the coast as the sun was setting. Splendid.
 
 

Berliner Philharmoniker

We had the first performance of the Berlin Phil this afternoon. G and I had seats directly in front of Sir Simon -about 10 rows away from him - prime seats courtesy of Magda and Martin - our wedding present from them. Perth concert hall was packed for the concert and the orchestra was stunning. The concert was recorded and played on ABC 97.7 a few hours later. The programme was excellent - a mix of modern and traditional. We're looking forward to going to hear them again tomorrow night.