January has come and gone, and the Afiaras have had a great time traveling in and out of our home base in New York. We spent three beautiful days in San Miguel de Allende at the beginning of the year, followed by rehearsals and concerts in New York, Milton, and Toronto. In some ways, it was a month of collaborative artists, as our last three concerts saw us performing with Denis Brott in the Schubert Cello Quintet (New York), Barry Shiffman in the Mendelssohn Viola Quintet Op. 18 (Milton), and then the same Quintet with two guest student violists (Toronto). At the beginning of February, we finished our fifth visit to the Royal Conservatory of Music. We had a terrific time hearing and playing with all the students; we thank especially Catherine Gray and Laurence Schaufele, guest violists, who performed with us in our concert.

The next activity on our itinerary is our second visit to the University of Alberta. The enthusiasm and desire to achieve was inspirational with the students we worked with last November, and we look forward to going to Edmonton again in a couple of weeks.

We send our warmest wishes to all, and hope to see some of you at our concerts!