Yesterday (Sunday, July 25) was a first for Carl and myself because it was the first Sunday service ever in which we were merely members of the congregation and were able to sit together. It was the 8:00 am music format, and although Carl has been participating as a singer ever since John Alexander was engaged as the pianist, Carl decided to sit in the congregation instead. It had taken us 26 hours to fly home from Europe the day before!
We also heard the happy, yet sad for us, news that Mike and Vicki Gorman will be leaving Hawaii and moving to Texas where Mike has received a new job. With the Honolulu Symphony situation as it is, we have had to say good-bye to many of the musicians who contributed to the LCH music scene, not only the concert series, but our own parish music program.
Mike and Vicki Gorman moved to Hawaii in June 1990 which means that LCH has been blessed by their musical gifts for over twenty years. With Vicki’s talent and vision, the Sunday School music program has reached a new high with many children participating in the F.R.O.G.S. Choir (Families Revering Our God in Song) and Orchestra.
Mike, of course, has played double bass for us in countless Bach cantatas and other special services. And we cannot forget Mitchell Gorman’s dream of having children put on a benefit concert for Heifer International, an annual event which for six years has raised a staggering $30,000. And who can forget Niell Gorman’s dramatic readings at Advent Procession and the Christmas programs?
Carl wrote: I have not enjoyed the same level of musical collaboration with very many people in my life. I think back to very simple pieces of Schütz with the 3 of us, and think how wonderfully we expressed that music. I also remember so many performances with Vicki (Mozart Exsultate, Haydn Lord Nelson, Schumann Frauen Lieben und Leben, and several Schubert Lieber and so many Bach arias and duets (there is nobody like Vicki in Wir eilen), and then all of the Bach continuo with Mike and the Dittersdorf Bass Concerto. How will we survive the next year????
Aloha, Gormans, we will miss you!
During the short time that my daughter and I lived on Oahu and attended LCH, I remember my daughter playing with the Gorman boys and participating in FROGS–fond memories of a parish home that we had to leave all too soon. We visited this Spring in preparation for a return over the Summer (since diverted to Hong Kong) and were thrilled to see the Gormans in the congregation–kids that my daughter remembered! Best of luck to this family as they embark on a new chapter in Texas(we’ve lived there, too) and thanks for their presence and warmth at LCH from folk they may not even remember. God Bless.
@Annette, Thanks for your great comments on the Gormans. We’re so sorry that we won’t have you back in Hawaii this fall–but maybe another year?
[…] We said ‘Aloha’ to Mike and Vicki Gorman last August when they moved to Houston where Mike got a job with the Houston Symphony as Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager. Before moving they asked us for a recommendation on a church to join, and we suggested Christ the King Lutheran. We actually first became aware of Christ the King because it was the parish of former LCH members, Don and Biz Person. […]