For the fourth time, these two days with the Merolini in San Francisco have been a true highlight of my travel year. I have come to expect that Sheri Greenwald, the Director of the program, brings together a group of extraordinarily gifted young singers. There were plenty of them and, as in Santa Barbara, a very high score of Canadians with four singers from Sasketchwan, Alberta, Nova Scotia and Quebec.

There are two things that I love about these auditions. First of all, there are those moments when a young singer, completely unknown to you, walks into the room and transforms it with his or her artistry and all of a sudden the future of opera looks really bright. There was a lot of great singing happening here over the past few days and it is great to feel when the whole audition panel gets excited about a young artist's performance. The panel is my second reason for coming here every season. A group of wonderful, knowledgable colleagues with a shared passion for singers and opera. It is a fun group to be with and each year I learn so much from them.

Now, I'm just closing my suitcase. I will be back in Toronto this evening.