Yay! Today I received a package in my mailbox from my dear friend Susanne. Yi-Jia Susanne Hou is a Canadian concert violinist that I met online a little over three years ago and have been friends with ever since. Enclosed in the package was her second CD called Fantasy, personally signed of course ;). I wonder if it will reach the top 3 of my Album Top 25 just like her first CD Fire & Ice did.

Four years ago Susanne won the Canada Council for Arts Instrument Bank Competition and was given the loan of the 1729 “ex-Heath” Guarneri del Gesù violin. Last year she might have had to part ways with it as the competition was held again, so she intended this CD to be a ‘momento’ of her time spent together with it. I’m glad that last year she won the competion again, so she retained the loan for another three years. I hope that she will be able to play on this wonderful instrument that she calls ‘the love of her life’ for a long time to come. You can find out more about Susanne and her music on her website, where you can also buy her CD.