Just in case you wondered I did come back from Beijing with a draft of our 2015/16 season and even a pretty good idea how I would like our 2016/17 (when we will be celebrating ten years at the Four Seasons Centre) to look like. When I develop ideas for a season I always try to balance artistic ambition with financial reality. I believe there are a few things we need to be able to do, among them, first of all, our capacity to create new productions, but also the ability to program big pieces ("big" meaning a large orchestra and chorus, overtime etc.). In my three years with the COC we've embarked on a lot of promising projects for the future and as we move forward with planning our seasons four to five seasons ahead it has been very satisfying to see (at least most of) them take shape.

Speaking of my three years with the COC, I was very happy to celebrate the third anniversary of my announcement as General Director (GD) last week, and even happier that I was honoured with a cocktail party in the garden of a former Board Chair, that both (the garden and the Chair) had a great importance in bringing me here. When I came to Toronto in May 2008 for my interviews as a candidate for the vacant GD position a cocktail party in the same garden was a crucial part of the interview process. Probably never before had I been observed by so many eyes, everybody knowing that I was a candidate and observing how I would interact with members of the arts community, Board members and other COC stakeholders. Being back in that same garden just to celebrate brought my third season to a wonderful end.