We just finished a little welcome dinner for Johannes (for the readers a bit less familiar with the COC I am talking about our Music Director Johannes Debus). He is in town for a concert with the Orchestra of the Royal Conservatory on Friday at the superb Koerner Hall which will also include our Ensemble mezzo Wallis Giunta in Ravel's Sheherazade.

It is good to have him here to talk about our projects for future seasons and many other things. If you're lucky you might meet him at one of our performances of Carmen or Otello. I look forward to the week with him.

I'm at Houston Airport waiting for the flight attendant to arrive so that we can board our plane for Toronto.

It was certainly worth going on this trip. At our meeting yesterday afternoon Anthony Freud and I identified quite a few projects we could collaborate on. The singers of the HGO Studio are a very impressive group of the highest calibre and together with the singers at the competition on Thursday I have heard almost 20 young and very talented singers in two days.

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As you know from my summer travels I like to keep track of the most talented young singers in North America. One of the most important training programs for young singers in the United States is the Houston Grand Opera Studio. Since 2008 I have been going to Houston once a year to get to know their young artists and we have invited some of the most talented ones, like Tamara Wilson (last year's Amelia in Simon Boccanegra and this year's Elettra in Idomeneo), Jamie Barton (our Emilia in Otello at the moment) or Scott Hendricks (our Iago in Otello and next year's Amonasro in Aida), to perform with the COC.

This year, I was also able to attend the finals of the Eleanor McCollum Competition which took place at the Wortham Opera Center yesterday evening followed by a gala dinner. For Houston Grand Opera (HGO) the competition also serves to recruit new young artists, although the winners don't automatically get offered a spot in the Studio. Compared to my last time at the competition two years ago the level was considerably higher and there were some really excellent contributions, especially from the male participants, amongst them a very young and promising baritone from Toronto. The winner, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo seduced both the public and the jury with his beautiful, well-projected sound and precise coloratura. I am sure we will hear more of this very gifted young singer.

Downtown Houston really isn't my favourite city, but I like coming here because of the company and the wonderful people working for it. I just had breakfast with the Artistic Administrator Diane Zola, and in a few hours I will see my colleague Anthony Freud talk about future collaborations between HGO and COC and then I will hear the young artists before attending the new production of Tosca tonight.

Stay tuned for more news from Texas.