It begins

I got an email this afternoon from a woman I had never met, asking about a man I had not thought about in a while: Maestro Markus.

I met Maestro Markus in June 2005 in a rehearsal for Howard Shore's Lord of the Rings Symphony. I spent the hours of that rehearsal a little more than an arm's length from Markus, as my choir's new seating plan had put me front-row centre and it was a small rehearsal hall. I was intimidated: it was my first concert with the choir, the piece was in elvish so my pronunciation was horrible, and this guest conductor shows up all cute and flirty... That was the beginning of a fantastic week and, I suppose, of this site.

I suspected it at the time, but had no proof until today, that Maestro Markus took good advantage of his tour with the LotR symphony to meet many... *cough*... new friends. One such friend, from Salt Lake City, is the woman who emailed me today. We were delighted to find each other and to share some of our stories and memories of Maestro Markus. The idea came up of creating this page as a possible way to find people who might have similar stories to tell.

The spirit of this site is meant to be humourous and affectionate, with no wish to give offense or to cause trouble. Think of it as a different sort of fan site.