On Saturday night I performed in the opening concert of the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival. As part of their fundraising activities to build a new concert hall in Ottawa (which is very much needed), I have donated a piano lesson to their online auction. I never give private lessons (only occasional public masterclasses), but have agreed to do so for such a worthy cause. To place your bid, please visit http://www.realauction.ca/auctionforthearts/en/ The lesson doesn't have to be in Ottawa, it could be anywhere that I am travelling (you will have to travel to me according to my schedule!), but of course your bid must be in Canadian dollars. The bidding closes on September 15, 2005.

On Friday, July 8th, the curtain came down on my first Trasimeno Music Festival. I was so pleased that everybody left feeling so happy about it all, and eager to return next year (July 1-7/06). Two of the last three concerts featured the brilliant Royal String Quartet from Warsaw (with whom I performed Shostakovitch and Chopin), and my own solo recital of the Goldberg Variations in the Palazzo Ducale of Gubbio. That was the only night all week when the weather wasn't absolutely gorgeous (see clouds in photo!)...in fact it rained before the concert. Undaunted, we asked for 20 male volunteers from the audience to lift the Fazioli concert grand off the stage and onto the floor beneath the arches of the cloister (to great applause from those watching!). The audience then also sat sheltered from the elements. It was still a marvellous atmosphere and acoustic, and a night we will all remember. I was very moved by the warm reception each night from the attentive audience, and how charmed people were with the whole event. So plan to join us next year!

The first three concerts in my own Trasimeno Music Festival have now taken place, and it has been a hugely rewarding experience. The castle setting has proved to be perfect--a lovely acoustic, with a warm, intimate feel--and it is inspiring to perform there. After my solo concert, the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto joined me for concertos by Bach and Mozart (photo); and tonight the wonderful Canadian soprano, Dominique Labelle, enchanted our listeners with a recital of French and Italian songs. I love playing for good singers, and it was a treat for me as well. Now one day off (to rehearse!) and then we have the last three concerts--one of which is in the majestic surroundings of the Palazzo Ducale in Gubbio.

The tickets for the six concerts in the Trasimeno Music Festival are selling fast! To book yours, please contact Green Center Travel in Perugia on trasifestival@greencenter.it or call them on +39 075 527 9862. If you would like to add the Gala Dinners on 2,3, and 8 July to your concert experience, then they will look after that as well. Preparing six different concert programmes to perform in seven days is a challenge, but I'm enjoying it, and to be doing so in Italy is an extra bonus! The photo is of part of the Castle of the Knights of Malta in Magione where five of the six concerts will be held.

It was indeed very exciting to perform in Jerusalem, and we had a wonderful audience to whom I gave two encores after the Bach and Schumann Concertos (including Myra Hess's arrangement of Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring). It's great to come to a country for the first time and discover that you have so many fans! I also had time to visit the city, both old and new, and went to the Wailing Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the orthodox Jewish neighbourhood, St. George's Cathedral, and the Israel Museum. Now my solo recital in Tel Aviv tomorrow night, and then I return to Europe and prepare for my festival!

It is now over a week since I arrived in Israel, and I have already given four concerts with the Israel Camerata. Last night in Haifa was the highlight so far: an extraordinarily appreciative audience who also cleaned out the CD table! Today was a free day, so I actually did some sightseeing and swam in the Sea of Galilee. Tomorrow I go to Jerusalem for the first time which I'm very much looking forward to.

If you go to this link on the internet: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/cdreview/vote/ then you can register to vote to hear my new Bach Concerto CD this Saturday morning on BBC Radio 3's CD review! They will be playing the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major. But not unless you vote for it! You can also hear Radio 3 over the internet on their website, www.bbc.co.uk/radio3. Voting closes Saturday June 4th at 10;30 a.m. (London time). Details of the new CDs (now available in shops in the UK) will be posted shortly.

I am fortunate to have so many "home" cities, and this past week I played in two of them (London and Perugia)--the other being Ottawa, Canada. My Fazioli piano made it back to Italy and into the beautiful Sala dei Notari in Perugia where I performed on Friday night. The photo is of it arriving back in my house on Lake Trasimeno! Prague was wonderful--such a beautiful city, and the Rudolfinum is a perfect place for a piano recital. Now only a few days and I'm off to Israel for two weeks. Now that will be an experience, I'm sure!

Two things made my recital today in London's Royal Festival Hall a very special experience: first of all the large audience who was unbelievably quiet and attentive from the first note to the last (no coughs!). Thank you! It makes such a difference to a pianist to have this degree of concentration also from the public. The second thing was to have my own Fazioli concert grand from Italy for the occasion. My technician, Gerd Finkenstein, drove it all the way from Umbria (and back tomorrow!) and worked on it for the concert. It was well worth the time and expense. That was its first outing for a concert (I have taken it elsewhere for recordings), and I'm sure not the last. After playing the Liszt Sonata three times this week, I am shattered, but am already leaving for Prague in a few hours. Today's recital will be broadcast on BBC's Radio 3 on June 26th. Tune in!

Twenty years ago tonight I was awarded First Prize in the Toronto International Bach Piano Competition in Roy Thomson Hall--an event that many of you will remember. It launched my career on the international stage and was an important turning point in my life. Never did I imagine that I would be performing in so many different places around the world. And what better thing to do to celebrate than perform in the incredible Teatro Bibiena in Mantova, Italy--a jewel of a theatre in which Mozart performed when he was fourteen years old. I have never seen another place quite like it. A night to remember--both twenty years ago and now!