Fare Thee Well, 2006

As 2006 comes to a close, Nicole and I just wanted to wish everyone a Blessed Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanzaa and a Healthy and Happy New Year.

Nicole and I started 2006 in Hawaii, after spending Christmas with Nicole's family at their home on Oahu. Nicole continued her chorus work with San Francisco Opera and was in productions of "Fidelio" and "Joan of Arc" as well as performances for Mission City Opera of Santa Clara, CA as Mercedes and 2nd Lady in "Carmen" and "The Magic Flute" respectively. Nicole and I were lucky enough to be in two productions together, which was a true pleasure. Nicole performed the roles of A Shining One and Madam Wanton in the West-Coast premiere of Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Pilgrim's Progress" for Trinity Lyric Opera in Walnut Creek, CA. In that production, I performed the roles of Interpreter, Lord Lechery (type-casting!) and Mr. By-Ends as well as making my directorial debut. In early December of this year, we were both in a production of the Christmas opera "Amahl and the Night Visitors" with the Winchester Symphony in San Jose under the baton of conductor and composer Henry Mollicone. Nicole did an amazing job as Amahl's dispirited mother and I performed the role of one of the three wise men, King Kaspar. Thank you to those of you that came to one of the performances! This year I ended my tenure at Opera San Jose with my final two productions there as Rodolfo in "La Boheme" and Don Otttavio in "Don Giovanni". The day after the final performance of "Giovanni", we moved from San Jose, where I had lived for the last 13 years, to our new home in San Francisco's Richmond District. We live in a lovely apartment on 18th Ave. about a block and a half north of Golden Gate Park and walking distance from some amazing restaurants on Geary Blvd. and also on Clement St. We love it here! I also made my debut at West Bay Opera in Palo Alto, CA as Macduff in Verdi's "Macbeth". I then spent the month of November in Manhattan for a productive audition season. I got to see many of my friends and family in the NYC area. It was a lot of fun! I flew from NYC to Denver for Thanksgiving where I met up with Nicole, Nicole's parents Dr. Jerry and Betsy Takesono at Nicole's sister Dr. Jennifer Yu and her husband Shane's home. We had a lot to celebrate, because shortly before Thanksgiving, Jenn gave birth to her first child, little Lina Emiko Yu, or as Nicole likes to call her, Thumbelina Lima Beana.

We were lucky enough to travel to Hawaii in June and July for Nicole's cousin's wedding and had a wonderful time. We also made a really fun trip to Lake Tahoe with my parents Mike and Kathy Flowers, my sister Michelle Azevedo, her husband Dennis and my niece and nephew Emily and Evan. We celebrated our second anniversary at Greens Restaurant at Fort Mason and made a trip in August to Denver to visit Jenn and Shane. All in all, it has been another wonderful year.

We wish you all the blessings of the New Year and a wonderful Christmastime!

Let there be Peace on our troubled Earth,

Adam and Nicole