Constanze and Peter sent the following letter from Germany, saying “we all remember those good, best years of our life with thankfulness to Pat and Stephanie.”  This is a long but beautiful letter from people who performed in the festival from the very beginning.

I would like to tell you a little about our connection to Pat and Stephanie. As you can easily guess – we are Germans and my English is horrible, please excuse all those mistakes! But still I try to give you an idea of our friendship to the dear couple of Deya.

It started in the year 1980. My husband Peter Winkler and I, Constanze, (not married during that time, we married in 1986) made holiday on Mallorca for the first time. My mother had a girlfriend who managed that we could live in a house in Deya, half way up to the church, looking down to Es Clot. It was a very hot summer, in fact too hot for us coming from the north of Germany! Nevertheless we began to like the island (in the end we loved it and wondered whether we should live there for ever!!), went to several very special places through beautiful landscape.

One day, it was the 13th of August, we decided to buy our food early in the morning otherwise the way back up the hill would be too excausting. So we did and it was about 10 o`clock in the morning when we returned with havy bags.

We made a little pause on the way just before the little town hall. At the wooden door there was a big poster, someone had written by hand something like: “We give a concert in the church of Deya on August 17th, 20.45 h. We will play music of Bach, Händel and Telemann. Entrance is free. You are invited, you are welcome!”

And in the end of the paper was written: “We need some more violinplayer and we need a harpsicord-player! We need you!  Tel….”

You must know: we were both musicans, my husband was professor for conducting and chamber-music and interpretation (subject piano) at the high-school in Hannover and I was the director of a big music-school for children, my subject was the violin. We both read the poster, but did not say anything because it was already getting hot again and we went on uphill.

At home we wondered whether we should phone that number or whether we would actually prefer to stay free from making music just for two weeks! In the end we did phone, Pat answered “Hello” with a warm voice, which I liked at once! He could hardly believe that really two German musicans called and were willing to take part in the concert!

First rehearsal in the afternoon 15 0`clock! We were very in time (Germans! :-)), not so the orchestra and Pat and Stephanie. In fact we waited more than one hour (later we called it “spanish time”, that means at least half an hour later than said in the appointment). – And this meeting was the beginning of a deep friendship.

In the following 10 years Pat organized a lot of concerts for Peter and his MARSCHNER-TRIO with Friedemann Kober, violin, and Stephan Haack, violoncello, also for Peter and Friedemann as a DUO, later Peter conducted the Palma Symphonie-Orchestra and Friedemann and Stephan played Brahms Double-Concerto and even later the trio played together with the Palma Symphonie-Orchestra the Tripple-Concerto by Beethoven! Finaly we went to Mallorca together with Peter´s Orchestra “Kammersymphonie Hannover”, that was in 1988 (I played in the orchestra too). – We visited Pat after Stephanie’s death and he also visited us in Hannover.

This mixture between organization  and improvisation, between Pat’ s improving in professional managing and Stephanie’s always very warm and heartful way of contact, their passion for music and thankfulness when they felt the support of other people for their idealistic idea of the festival, to see how poor they were in the beginning and how happy they could be nevertheless together with friends… all this made every meeting with these two dear persons to a very special, uncomparable, unforgettable and precious experience.

I sent your mail to the two musicans and friends Friedemann Kober and Stephan Haack. Both answered at once at the same day, they were very much touched by this sad news and we all remember those good, best years of our life with thankfulness to Pat and Stephanie and to the fate, that gave us the opportunity to meet them!

I send you some pictures: The programm of the first concert in the church of Deya after the “we need you”-start! The first little paper which Pat gave us in the end of our first visit, so we had the key for the future. One letter and then some fotos of the trio and Pat with Peter and in the end a foto of our beloved Stephanie (1988 after a concert with our orchestra). – We will never forget them both.

Thank you once more for all that effort you had in working out your very fine mail and that you found our mail adress and sent the mail to us. We will look at it very often in the future!

I send you very kind, thankful and good thoughts and wishes for your own life!

Love from

Constanze and Peter Winkler