I’ve spent the last eleven days in Helsinki, concluding last evening with the premiere of my solo violin work, Passions, by Sini Virtanen at the Sibelius Music Institute in Hämeenlinna. Finland has offered me a much-needed pause, a calmness and order that isn’t possible in Hong Kong’s dense insistence.

Sini’s performance was captivating and personal, showing all sides of my work and its many expressions: the questioning, the outbursts, the longing introspection, the steady build-up to strident wails…and the afterthoughts—those memories that remain.

I have so enjoyed visiting Sibelius’s birth house, eating delicious food, seeing the beautiful islands of Suomenlinna, breathing fresh, cool air, and, above all, spending time with interesting and creative people.  This is a place I hope soon to return.