South Africa Before

A devastating blaze has left a path of terrible loss and destruction in the Cape, and I do have to ask myself if the thought of playing a concert just a week after this inferno is offensive or callous. Other concerts come to mind that were played under unfathomable circumstances during and after World War II. I hope that our show about love, death and the Timelessness of Time will help our audiences make sense of what just happened. To keep reminding myself about what really matters and about what is not important, I will keep the post draft in its original form (see below). In the hope, that a sense of normality will soon return, normality that allows us to worry about the smaller things in life such as the ones mentioned in my before-the-fire blog post. I say from the depth of my heart: South Africa, here we come!

Here's my original blog post about the anticipation of our concert tour written just before the Cape Town Fire:

In a week we are going to South Africa for two performances of the concept show Crumb Kaleidoscope. Of the five players in the show, I know three - myself included, but I have never worked with the other two, our percussionists Magdalena de Vries and Frank Mallows. Our flutist Dieter Weberpals is flying in from Germany.

Flights

The flights to Cape Town from the US will take a total of about 25 hours of travel time, which is rather long and a bit scary. How will we feel once we have reached Cape Town? Will we be able to rehearse and make music after all this flying, all the sitting, all the airline food, all the movies watched just to kill time, and all the germ attacks on the plane?

Time difference and jet lag

And then there is a pretty hefty climate change to handle as well. We are in the midst of a record breaking freeze, and are getting into end of summer heat in South Africa. I tend to get dizzy when I suddenly arrive in hot climates. How will we manage that?

Even though I have done many long distance flights followed by immediate performances or rehearsals, it remains a challenge. I don't think I could do it if there weren't that magical place in my life called music. Once I sit at a piano at my destination it feels immediately like home. Music makes me feel a sense of belonging, of safety, of joy. Music makes communication easy, fun and exhilarating even with completely unfamiliar colleagues. It is worth, without a doubt in my mind, traveling halfway around this beautiful planet to play for people and share this miracle. 

I am sure, once I hear the first sounds, I'll be fine. I can't wait to play the show.

South Africa, here we come!