G.P.

Yesterday was a happy day for me, since I passed to the second round of the competition here in Luxembourg. And not only me, but also my classmates Rober and Yuki and my friend Ivan! It is so nice to have so many friends in the competition - it somehow keeps the atmosphere nice and relaxed and it does not become a bloody battle... Of course it was a sad day to the eight young conductors who did not make it this time - including a few friends of mine as well. I feel sad for them, but this is how competitions are! C'est la vie!!!

Going to see the Grand Duke

The funny thing yesterday was, that we were granted an audience with the head of state, the Grand Duke Henry of Luxembourg! Today he will meet Vladimir Putin of Russia, so we were in good company! Unfortunately I have no photos from inside the palace, but you might guess the interior was royal!!! Grand Duke Henry was really nice to us and asked about our lives, the choice of profession etc. He is apparently really well educated in classical music, and is a regular concert goer (we also heard that opera is not among his favorite pastimes, and that he cannot digest music of Wagner).

Today I will later go and see some of the semi-finalists. At the moment my classmates Yuki and Rober are preparing to conduct. I will not see them but wish them best of luck!

P.S. I later received this newspaper article that appeared in La Voix of Luxembourg on the May 23rd. I was interviewed for this paper briefly right after my first round performance.