SAGA singer Michael Sadler - who announced he'd be leaving the band at the end of 2007 - has issued the following update:

"Greetings everyone!

With this most incredible year winding down, I felt it was a good time to just briefly express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to all of you. Your presence, letters and personal words of support mean so much and have touched me more than you will ever know. At this time, I am still in the midst of finishing up several things, including finalizing the DVD for Saga - so I will be back again at the end of the year to talk more about the tour and what my 'retirement' means to me.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the year, I have decided to step down from my role as musician for Saga and will try to spend more time with my family. Having said that, I am not retiring from music and will continue to participate in various projects and events as they come up. As some of you are familiar with my freelance projects, you know that I am always open to trying new things.

Although my personal life is a huge factor in my scheduling decisions, a new project was offered to me in recent days that was just too worthwhile to pass up. Despite the timing of the event (right after baby Seren is expected to be born), I felt that this latest offer was too important to refuse. My only wish is that this project was more universal, as I would have preferred that everyone have access to this amazing event. As it stands, this special event is being held in Germany and makes it a challenge to attend for many of you. It is my hope that those of you that can attend, will do so, as it is for a good cause.

I am therefore very proud to be invited to participate in the annual ORSO-Rock-Symphony in Freiburg, Germany, under the baton of the exciting founder and conductor, Wolfgang Roese. So, here www.orso.org is the link in German and an English explanation here .... mind you, I've been warned that tickets sell out immediately so don't be late! I hope that this event will be just one of many opportunities for me to pursue my love of music, while being of service to others. For those of you in other parts of the globe, I will do my very best to get invited to your neck of the woods!

In the meantime, my family and I would like to wish all of you our warmest wishes for a wonderful holiday season."