Baking, Bits & Bobs

21/02/2025

When rehearsal with the was canceled a few days ago due to snow, I decided to checked out in downtown Raleigh. Their baked goods are amazing and I may or may not be making daily trips there to try various items.

21/02/2025

When rehearsal with the was canceled a few days ago due to snow, I decided to checked out in downtown Raleigh. Their baked goods are amazing and I may or may not be making daily trips there to try various items.

31/05/2024

When in Buffalo…the wings did not disappoint! All fueled up for tonight’s Mahler 2 rehearsal with the .

29/04/2024

A fabulous, flavorful and enriching week in Miami Beach. Witnessing what the is all about, seeing conduct and being treated to an early birthday dinner out at and a sweet treat from . Fueled up and ready for a Bach Mass in B Minor this week. 🎵.

07/04/2024

Whether #1 or #4, I am always grateful to be doing what I love for a career.

10/03/2024

Today just felt like a double Babka kind of day. Chocolate Hazelnut and Lemon Pistachio.

24/02/2024

A perfect day in Switzerland. Mountains…cheese…chocolate…and aliens. 🧀 🇨🇭 🍫 👽. 🇨🇭

26/11/2023

With American Thanksgiving in the bag, holiday shopping seems to be underway! If you are looking for a gift idea for a baker and/or music enthusiast, consider my cookbook, Aria Ready For Dessert. Available on Amazon worldwide.

If you are a fan of The Great British Bake Off, the technical challenge this past week was an apple tart, just like the one on the cookbook cover. ❤️

Aria Ready For Dessert?: A Musician Takes Center Stage in the Kitchen

22/11/2023

It’s starting to look and smell like Thanksgiving around here. I already celebrated 🇨🇦 Thanksgiving in October in Victoria and now I get round two in the 🇺🇸!

08/11/2023

Whilst I did do some baking this week (cherry Linzer torte), it’s back on the road I go for concerts. This time Mahler 3 with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Calgary Girls Choir, the Calgary Philharmonic Chorus and last but not least, Rune Bergmann.

I just finished listening to the last movement of this symphony. I always say “don’t make me choose”, but if I had to, the last movement of Mahler’s 3rd Symphony would be what I would choose.

By this point in the symphony, my “work” is done and I truly have the best seat in the house.

I performed my first Mahler 3 with Christoph Eschenbach in Paris about 20 years ago and have performed it countless times since then. No matter how many times I perform this work, it never gets old. It seems to only get better as I get older and have more life experience under my belt.

For me, the last movement is love, it is life. In the 23 (ish) minutes that the movement lasts, it lets my heart reflect back over life thus far, the good and the not so good, and it always allows me to feel hope and happiness for the future.

If you don’t know this symphony, take a listen. If you only have 23 minutes, choose the last movement and see how it makes you feel. Better yet, if you are in Calgary or Edmonton this weekend, come and hear it live.

I am ever grateful for all the people who have helped me along the way in my career and beyond grateful that so much of that said career has been singing Mahler’s music. .bergmann