It’s nice to be part of a family and that’s the feeling I got when I took the train from Berlin to Ulm to see Kay Metzger’s last show as Intendant and resident stage director. He brought me into the Wagner repertoire with Tannhäuser in 2000 when he headed his first theater in Halberstadt. Kay capped his career in Ulm with another Wagner singing contest, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and along the way engaged me as the young Siegfried in his second theater, Detmold. He mentioned this to his longtime Dramaturg before Thursday’s show in Ulm, who replied that he remembers me from almost 40 years ago when he was a student in the extra chorus in Wuppertal, where I started in Germany! That production of the Pearl Fishers is one of my fondest memories and it’s very satisfying to run into someone who remembers it well. It’s very much like having a family which shares a tradition and can be deeply satisfying. It’s not easy, especially these days, but you too can join this family, so if this is what you want, come on over and give it a try.