October 2000

Hi Everybody,

Hard to believe that we are already into October, this year seems to be flying past. Our last journal was prior to our summer break, so sorry for not writing sooner. We lately have got snowed under by work but are slowly digging our way out now!

Our summer breaks were lovely, both of us spent most of the time relaxing in our respective homes, but it was not long before we felt restless and eager to begin work again. In fact Rolf continued to write during the holidays, which meant we were able to go straight into studio in August and work on some new songs. We worked as always in Kristiansand in Norway and had a wonderful creative and inspiring two weeks.

After Kristiansand we were invited to perform at the Momarkedet festival in Norway. This is a wonderful festival held every year and has always attracted huge artists ranging from Bing Crosby to Tina Turner. It was especially meaningful for us to perform the in Momarkedet, as it was the first venue we performed live in after our Eurovision win.

Apart from the band we had an orchestra and choir, and during 'Dawn Of A New Century', the choir held lit torches, which looked really spectacular for both the live audience, and those watching on TV.

From Norway, we travelled to Kiel in Germany for one performance. We have also had numerous trips to London, working with the record company and promoting Dreamcatcher. Dreamcatcher is a compilation of all 3 CDs which was specially made for the UK and Ireland. It ,has been doing really well since it's release last June,which makes us happy , as it's fun for us to now get the opportunity to work a little closer to home!

In the first weeks of October we completed another round of demo-recording in Kristiansand, and are now recovering from that trip! Constant 14-16 hours days do take their toll! We plan to continue composing and testing out new ideas as much as possible, but we haven't decided yet on a final production plan.

The exciting news from us now is that we are developing a new show with the English company "Ice ventures". It's called "Secret Garden Reflections On Ice". We will be premiering it in England in Milton Keynes on the 9th and 10th of November, as it's a new concept for us we are really looking forward to it!. Apart from ourselves and band there will be 12 international iceskaters + ensemble + children, as well as guest starring Sasha from Cirque du Soleil. We plan to make this a spectacular show, and if all goes well in Milton Keynes, we hope to go on tour with it in 2001.

For all of you that have patiently waited for the printed music, at last we have made progress! "White Stones" piano and melody book will soon be available for ordering through our web shop. "Songs from a Secret Garden" and "Dawn of a New Century" will follow shortly. We also will have available solo parts in different keys, as well as full orchestral scores.

If any of you are familier with the UK magazine Harpers and Queen, there is a short feature on us in the November edition, Arts section.

Need to sign off now, as we have to get back to planning the show. Look forward to writing to you soon.

Take care!

Fionnuala and Rolf

P.S. Barbra Streisand has just released the live recording of her Las Vegas concert "Timeless", and our song "I've Dreamed of You" is on it! She also sang it just 2 weeks ago during her Madison Square Garden Concerts in New York City.