Dear Friends--

Last month we returned home after two and a half months touring overseas.  It was an extremely happy tour and David seemed to play better and better.

We started off in Japan with David giving 5 performances of the Rach 3 in various cities.  The response was wonderful--he received 75 bunches of flowers in Tokyo and was almost treated like a pop star.  We plan to return to Japan next June.  The Japanese obviously respond to David with great emotion.  It is almost as if he gives them release from their rather controlled personalities and they seem to experience so much joy.  It is a wonderful feeling to witness this.

From Japan, we went to Italy and spent a week with George Negus and Kristy Cockburn (George is a leading TV political journalist).  We were in San Giovanni Valdarno--30 minutes south of Florence, a lovely medieval town with views to the Chianti Hills.  The weather was wonderful and we had many laughs, lots of pasta and wine and saw a lot of soccer.  I now know what "offside" means!  David gave a performance in the beautiful medieval square with the moon bathing the old church and two thousand people standing and sitting in the square.  The recital was to raise funds for the Kosovo refugees and around $14,000 resulted. It was a very special evening.

We then drove to Switzerland for recitals there and in Germany.  We had five days at Luzern and the beauty of the lake was breathtaking.  David performed at the new $220 million concert hall and got a good review.  Also, all the negative publicity of 1997 had melted away and some lovely articles appeared.  That was a good feeling.

We then stayed in Lisbon for two recitals at the wonderful La lapa Hotel. The setting was magical, the food superb and the people so friendly.  We would love to return to Portugal for a holiday next year.

We then went to the Channel Island of Jersey, where David's sister Suzie and her husband, Bill, and children are living at the present time.  David did another performance for the Kosovo refugees and that was a happy occasion.  Bill is in charge of the Drug and Alcohol programmes on the island and has done a fantastic job in the 18 months he has been there.  He introduced the methadone programme with great success and the 200 addicts he is working with are all in full time employment.  The island is very beautiful but very exclusive.  You are not allowed to go and live there unless you have assets of around 15 million pounds, so needless to say, we didn't look at any properties!

The last recital for the tour was near Dover in England, and again a recital to raise funds for abused children.  The garden setting for the dinner and the recital in a charming old barn, was a great contrast to the Luzern concert hall.

To return home is always a great joy to us and this time was no exception, even though it is winter and the days have been incredibly wet, however, the garden is looking so green and beautiful.

We will only be touring in Australia until we go back to Japan next June.  We feel we need more time at home and my next project there is to start a Japanese garden by our lagoon.  I think it will fit beautifully.

David is busy looking at new repertoire for 2000, so our lives are full, but very happy.

I don't think we will get to the States until 2001, unless we can make a quick trip to New York to inspect the properties we bought there (which incidentally have increased in value to a very large extent).  Would love to get vacant possession of one of them so we have our own apartment to stay in when we visit--it would certainly be a great magnet to draw us there--although we love New York so much.

We send our love and best wishes.

                       Gillian and David Helfgott