The year 2007 proved to be rather uneventful from a musician's perspective since my regular job required more attention. 2008 promised to be more interesting in this regard. At a charity gala on 7 February, 2008, Peter Widholz, president of the JOHANN STRAUSS SOCIETY and founder of the Classical Operetta Ensemble Vienna, gave me the opportunity of giving a performance. In short, the evening was a success for everybody, especially for me (report). I joined the ensemble and was promptly given a debut role (thanks to a lucky stroke of fortune) in the next production "Der tapfere Soldat" (= the brave soldier). I starred as Hauptmann Massakroff in this operetta by Oscar Straus.

The society's purpose is to keep alive the classical Viennese operetta through concerts and performances of complete operettas adhering to traditional interpretation true to the original spirit. One of its top priorities is to encourage the revival of this precious form of music literature, which once was so successful and has undeservedly faded from people's memories.

June 2008 brought a change in my vocal training. It fills me with a sense of pride that KS (= “Kammersänger” = "chamber singer": honorary title for singers) Wicus Slabbert iaccepted me into his class and that we now meet for vocal training sessions on a regular basis. I already am beginning to see some progress.