New friendships and old church rooms

Thanks to the organizers and audience at the German Windros Folk Festival, and subsequently in the small handful of venues such as the American violinist Ruthie Dornfeld and I visited, on our 14-day trip in Germany and Denmark here in September.

It was a great pleasure to participate in this year's festival orchestra at the small exclusive Windros Folk Festival in Schwerin, and an honor to share the stage with people like the English saxophonist Jo Freya, the two German musicians Ernst Poets (concertina) and Wolfgang Meyering (mandolin and mandocello), the American cittern player Doc Rossi. Three days of super hard work, with practice from 10:00 to 17:00 every day, as well as concerts every evening, but the reward lies in the good meetings with international colleagues and an enthusiastic audience.

On Friday evening we played e.g. an hour for dancing in collaboration with Jan Budweis, who this evening had left the accordion at the hotel, and in return helped us organize a fun ball for all the many dancers of all ages present. It was a blast of a dance – short, intense and for full blast!

Dragør Church - we played our first concert together at the beginning of the 80s in Dragør. Long ago!

In the East German city of Stadt Hagenow, we gave a concert in the old synagogue, and in Denmark we played, among other things, in Vejstrup Valgmenighedskirke at Svendborg, and Dragør Kirke, respectively. There is no doubt that these particular church rooms suit our music well, and that kind of venue will definitely be high on our wish list when we plan future tours in Europe.

In the coming time, I devote myself to a number of concerts in Denmark, not least with the singer Mia Guldhammer. We must, among other things, playing at the Aarhus Folk Festival and at Huset in Hasserisgade, Ålborg.

In November, the trip goes to Seattle and the surrounding area with Ruthie - but more on that later...