For Kathleen Ferrier, much of the year 1950 was spent away from Britain. Her third trip to America took up a quarter of the year, from the third week of December 1949 until the end of March 1950. In April and May she worked in her native land apart from a three-day trip to Holland. The second half of May brought the blessed relief of a holiday in Scotland. During June and the first few days of July she was in Austria, Switzerland and Italy, and at the end of August she went to Edinburgh. From September to mid-November her diary was filled with recitals and concerts in Britain, and then it was back to Holland for three weeks. There were no Messiahs after the one at the Royal Albert Hall on 25th October.

One would have thought that by the third visit to the United States arrangements would have gone smoothly, but she had been there barely hours when news came through that John Newmark had been refused a work permit when attempting to cross into the USA from Canada. On the first page of her 1949 diary she drafted a telegram to the Board of Immigration:

It took the power of her reputation and a lot of telephone calls to cut through the bureaucratic nonsense which was preventing his joining her, but in the end she was successful. The train rides were as arduous as before (missed or delayed connections meant much longer Greyhound Bus rides instead), and her adventures were as varied and stimulating as ever. She was lucky to have ten days free at the beginning of February, during which time Bruno Walter made his Beverly Hills home available to her, complete with manservant, maid, swimming pool and cars, while he and his wife were away in New York. This was a luxurious respite for which she was very grateful. She met up with Monteux again in San Francisco for Orfeo, and appeared happier than ever as she progressed through the states of Oregon and Washington, back to Chicago and on to New York for what was to prove to be the last time.