Internet photo albums (click on the photographs):

Claudine (310 photographs)

Igor (75 photographs)

Bernd and Barbara (141 photographs)

Steve (33 photographs)

Clemens (175 photographs, which can also be watched as a 20 minute slide show with background music by Ray Conniff [URL: http://youtu.be/SzukzOSmFWg])

Please also visit Doug’s page for a short report. As for 2015, please look up my questionnaire and let me have your answers by mid October 2013. Thank you!

The 2013 Quiz is online as well.

THE 2013 RAY CONNIFF FAN CLUB CONVENTION IN BRUSSELS AND BRUGES - a report by In the early evening of Friday, the 13^th (don’t say this is an unlucky date!) Ray Conniff fans from all over the world gathered in the restaurant of the nh Hotel Arenberg for a two hour reception. Most of them had not seen each other since the 2011 Convention in Vienna, and there were a lot of hugging and cheers. This time, there were three generations of Ray Conniff fans, the youngest (Jacob) being only nine months old! There were fans from eleven different countries and three continents (North and South America, and Europe). In my welcome speech, I thanked everybody for coming to Brussels in order to honour and commemorate our favourite artist whose music has brought us together. I pointed out that this convention was a little different from the previous ones because of the attendance of very special people: We welcomed Doug from Washington, the creator of the original Ray Conniff website as well as Jorge from Juiz de Fora (Brazil), who runs the Ray Conniff Lyrics website. I pointed out that on the following day we would have the honour of the presence of Vera and Tamara Conniff. Besides, there would be a concert on Sunday morning dedicated to the music of Ray Conniff. I also mentioned the increased popularity of both the websites and the video clips on YouTube, which have about 2.500 subscribers. I asked the fans what they thought would be the highest priced Ray Conniff item on ebay. Well, it’s a signed photograph at the price of $ 899. I pointed out that a similar item would be the first prize of the traditional Ray Conniff Quiz, whose winners I would announce on Saturday evening. As usual, the fans could obtain a special souvenir CD. This time it featured “Rare Latin Tracks”, i.e. tracks or special versions of recordings which were only released in South and Middle America as well as three songs from TV shows from Brazil and Mexico. Our organiser Claudine had undergone every effort to make this convention classy. It all began with the carefully chosen drinks and small snacks for this reception. To our surprise, we found specially printed menus on our tables on the second floor of “La Rose Blanche”, a restaurant from where you had a breathtaking view of the Grand Place and its illuminated buildings. Claudine also gave everyone maps of Brussels and Bruges as well as information material and hand-written statements in everyone’s mother tongue concerning the amount due. At breakfast on Saturday, 14^th  September, the “Conniff ladies” together with their friend Heidi from Switzerland were greeted with cheers. They joined us on the trip to Bruges, which took about 90 minutes by coach. Unfortunately, the weather god was not too kind to us, but we took it easy, and when I reminded the fans of the fact that there was a fitting song by Ray for every situation, someone shouted “Laughter in the Rain”, and in fact, we had a lot of laughter during that day. Claudine had carefully chosen tracks by Ray for the CDs we listened to during the ride. The bus driver liked the music so much that at the end of the day he asked whether he could have one of the discs. Some of us went on a guided sightseeing tour on foot, whereas others strolled around in groups. We found Claudine’s information material most useful. We all met at 3 pm for boat trips on the canals. In spite of the showers, everybody was impressed with the beauty and uniqueness of this town. We returned to the hotel in Brussels at 7 pm. An hour later we assembled on the first floor of a restaurant named “Aux Armes de Bruxelles”, located in a popular area, where all the tourist go for meals, and where you would not expect such a classy restaurant. The round tables were beautifully decorated, and you could feel a wonderful atmosphere the moment you entered this L-shaped room. Again, Claudine had made a perfect choice. As the members of the orchestra from Chantilly were there, too, there was a total of about 75 people. As dinner was served a little later than planned (and most people were hungry), I decided against a welcome speech before the first course, but said a few words before the main course. Thinking back, I feel embarrassed because I forgot to say so many things. E.g., I should have mentioned that we all thought Vera and Tamara’s presence was a privilege and honour, which made this convention special. (Well, I did say that during the ride on the bus.) Besides, I should have introduced some people who were not present the previous night, such as our dear friend Serge, and I should have pointed out Francis’ efforts to make his fellow musicians come to Brussels for a concert on Sunday. (Well, at least I thanked them all after it on Sunday.) It was time to distribute the second souvenir CD. We had the idea of its production when people asked us, how many conventions there had been. Was it No. 13? Well, you can count for yourself. Here are the liner notes and the list of songs chosen: This souvenir CD is dedicated to all participants of the Ray Conniff Fan Club Conventions, and of course to Ray and his music, without whom our bi-annual meetings would not have been possible. This CD is to memorize all conventions so far by means of a more or less fitting Ray Conniff tune each. In fact, the very first convention took place in Berlin in 1986, where some die-hard fans celebrated Ray’s birthday. Ray took part in a German television show in which he conducted the Horst Jankowski orchestra for a performance of “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”. We enjoyed this get-together so much that Ingo asked the question why we could not have such an occasion more often. You all know the answer: Since 1989, we have our “family reunion” every two years. We hope you’ll enjoy this compilation as much as we did when we put it together – Claudine, Clemens and Manfred Song No. / Title / chosen to commemorate the convention in… / year / notes / organisers 1 Opening: MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THIS 2 SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES (Berlin, 1986) 3 DANKESCHÖN (Hamburg, 1989; composed by a famous native son of Hamburg, Bert Kaempfert) [Clemens, Ingo, Manfred] 4 TRY TO REMEMBER (Amsterdam, 1991) [Theo] 5 ON LONDON BRIDGE, with Jo Stafford (London, 1993) [Mike] 6 VERA’S THEME (Basle / Pratteln, 1995; during which we paid a visit to the Conniff House and were hosted by Vera Conniff) [Christian] 7 THE POOR PEOPLE OF PARIS (Paris, 1997) [Serge] 8 MOMENTS TO REMEMBER (Mini-convention in Charleroi / Namur, 1998) [Claudine] 9 EL ITALIANO (Rome, 1999) [Luciano] 10 AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER (Mini-convention in Dublin, 2000) [Patrick] 11 SPANISH EYES (Barcelona, 2001) [Ramon] 12 BERLINER LUFT (Berlin, 2003) [Otto] 13 SOMETHING TO REMEMBER YOU BY (Cardiff, 2005) [The Two Alans, Wendy and Carys, John and Jackie] 14 LA PALOMA (Hamburg, 2007; this song is an unofficial anthem of this harbor town) [Clemens, Ingo, Manfred] 15 UNDER PARIS SKIES (Chantilly / Paris, 2009) [Francis] 16 THIRD MAN THEME (Vienna, 2011) [Otto] 17 SEASONS IN THE SUN (Brussels / Bruges, 2013; composed by famous Belgian singer/songwriter Jacques Brel) [Claudine] Closing songs: 18 SO LONG, FAREWELL 19 AULD LANG SYNE (vocal solo by Ray) When I read out the places and years of the conventions as well as the songs we had chosen to commemorate them, I had intended to mention the names of the organisers as well, which I did in some cases, but in the course of events simply forgot. That’s why I added them to the track list above. Well, I should eventually have mentioned Clemens and thanked him for the production of these discs, too (as well as greetings from people who could not make it this time, e.g. Ramon, Marina, Sheila and Marianne), but I wanted things to be kept according to the KISS-formula (“Keep It Short And Simple”), because the waiters wanted to serve the next meals. Besides, I wanted to announce the winners of the quiz before the main course. In fact, there was none who had achieved the full score (tz, tz!), but three (Igor, Doug and Bernd) had 22 out of 23. (Test yourself how much you would have scored!) Luckily, I had three original signed photographs of Ray as prizes. When Doug said, he had all three of those already, I decided to give him an original Ray Conniff T-shirt instead. This way I could give one of the signed photographs to Henk (4^th place). On behalf of everybody, Claudine received a million thanks in the shape of a million dollar note with Ray’s picture on it. She definitely deserved it for the impeccable organisation of this convention. After the main course, it was a pure joy to listen to Tamara’s dinner speech: It was great news to learn that the Ray Conniff Christmas Show would eventually be shown again on US TV as well as the release of another 2-CD-set in the UK. Tamara also mentioned that her book on the life and music of her dad was due for publication next year. After dessert, fans, friends and trombonists Francis and Marc played some Dixieland together with members of their orchestra. Some of us danced along. What a wonderful, marvellous, and awful nice day this had been! On Sunday, September 15, more tribute was made to Ray and his music during a concert in one of the suburbs of Brussels in an Italian restaurant. We owe Francis and his fellow musicians a big thank you for their efforts and to make this highlight possible. In my little speech to express my gratitude, I said that Ray must have looked down from above and smiled because of the enthusiasm shown, and that to my mind there are more important hobbies than the collection of stamps and soccer. The repertoire included tunes that Ray Conniff had recorded, but not his arrangements – but one: I had discovered an original band arrangement of “Somewhere My Love” by Ray, which he had never recorded. I had copied all the pages and sent them to Francis earlier this year. Then they rehearsed it – and it premiered during this concert. I would also like to express my sincerest thanks to Marc, who also played a great trombone solo. His rendition of “My Cha Chornia” moved Vera very much, and after it, she gave him a standing ovation. After this concert, we had drinks and snacks during talks. The weather had improved and so we could stroll through Brussels in the afternoon and take in the atmosphere. In the evening, almost 30 fans gathered again and had dinner at the Grand Place again. All in all, it was a great convention, and it seems it was not the last one. Many fans expressed their hope that – if their health permits – they could attend another one. This is to be in 2015 – wherever that may be. Check out this page often; then you’ll know the result of the survey I am currently conducting. Again, thanks a lot for everybody who contributed to the success of this one, especially Claudine, who did not only give us lovely souvenirs, such as the Manneken Pis-keyring shown here. Indeed, she did a wonderful job. - Manfred

Serge, shown here with Tamara and Vera (60 photographs)

All about the Ray Conniff fan club convention in Brussels and Bruges in September 2013: