Herr Keller,
Years have passed since my years in Adelaide, studying at the Conservatorium. Studies and friends are all a surreal blur now and the only thing that remains vivid in my mind is the advice you have given me; the countless upon countless misinterpreted quotes that my mind back then, simply could not comprehend. Or was it that I was just too egotistical to want to understand? It was silly of me to believe that I have learnt everything there is to know about piano. I recall sending you a tape of my Honours performance in Elder Hall – expecting to receive a letter of praise in return. Instead, I ignorantly and furiously tried to ignore the critique. I guess you could say I quickly fell pray to the vanities of praise and believed that I had already reached the level of a master. I believed and I assured myself that I had nothing left to learn – no one could teach me, only I could teach myself. But now I clearly understand that my life in Adelaide was simply an absence of you. I now understand and have interpreted your sly invitation back to Darwin – you critiqued me to remind me that I haven’t fully learnt yet and that you are willing to teach me what you know because you never had the chance to do that – you never got the chance to convert all your skills and all your knowledge to someone else. I thought that I have reached your standards and that I had nothing left to learn – but now, only now, do I realize that I cant and never will compare. I realise that I have wasted my years away from Darwin, simply pressing keys and hearing only notes –never real music – and obsessing over technique that I know you will never approve of. I have made decisions that cannot be unmade and now regret overwhelms me but also a sense of gratitude because I have finally learnt what you have been trying to teach me all these years.