Dear Friends--

The Festive Season is nearly upon us and I am very happy to be sitting and writing this newsletter at home.  It has been a very exciting year and the main news was David being awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Edith Cowan University in Western Australia.  It was a memorable occasion  with all the family attending and David relishing it all. So now he is Dr David Helfgott and it was a very proud moment in our lives.

We had our usual touring schedule until May then we went off to Europe for eight weeks holiday,  two weeks in lovely France and six weeks in Italy.  Family and friends came and shared the villas in Umbria and Tuscany with us and it was a very joyous time.  So joyous we have booked to go back to Tuscany next May for six weeks.  Our aim has been to move into semi-retirement, and these breaks are the beginning of more free time. We have to say that Italy has captured our hearts with the warmth of the people, the weather, the food and the wine!  We rented a beautiful old Tuscan  farmhouse, surrounded by olive trees and overlooking the Tuscan hills.  With a piano, pool and sunshine, David had the perfect holiday.  We feel so grateful that we have had the blessing of visiting so many wonderful cities and countries over the past years and made so many special friends.

Another great highlight was returning to Africa in September with our friends the Judges, for our third visit and what a great time we had in this fascinating country.  David gave six sell-out recitals in South Africa and Harare and then we had three excellent breaks.  We returned to Sir Richard Branson’s Ulusaba Game Lodge  in the private section of Kruger National Park and it was as wonderful as we remember it .  The excitement of seeing the ”big five” on our safaris, including a leopard in the daylight which is very rare, and the majesty of the animals in their own environment is a unique experience.  Of course, we enjoyed the luxury of the Lodge and the great service and friendliness of the staff.

 We also did a return trip on ROVOS Rail.  This is one of the great trains of the world, if not the greatest, and the experience was memorable.  The carriages are from the thirties and the elegance and service equal a five star hotel.  David loved standing at the rear of the observation car enjoying the beautiful African landscape, chatting to the fellow travelers and enjoying the superb food.

We then visited Sanyati Lodge on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe which is an idyllic small resort in a National Park.  Again the hospitality was wonderful and the thrill of seeing the wild life from the lake at sunset was rather magical. We hope to return to Africa again in 2006.

We also went back to South Korea and what a fantastic welcome David received. The large enthusiastic audiences, mainly of young people, gave David the type of reception usually reserved for pop stars.  It was a fantastic experience.

Next year our overseas touring will  commence in Norway in late April.  This will be our first visit  and we are eagerly looking forward to seeing this beautiful country.  We then return to Germany, Switzerland and Austria in May prior to our time out in Italy and then the rest of 2005 at home.

We are both extremely well and happy and send our warmest greetings to you for the coming festive season and may greater harmony and peace manifest in the world in 2005.
 
 
 

                                          ------Gillian and David Helfgott