Hey, I bet you didn’t know what “friggatriskaidekaphobia” was —right? It’s “fear of Friday the 13th !” Today is Friday, May 13, and tonight is the opening night of Bach’s Mass in B Minor at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu. It’s Carl Crosier’s “swan song,” if you will, his final concerts as Cantor after 38 years.

When we opened the newspaper this morning, there was not one but two feature articles about Carl and the B-Minor Mass. Steven Mark’s wonderful article about Carl’s 38 years was on the cover of the Today section, and the online version has a short video as well. When Carl and I first clicked it, we thought, “EEK! That was a video from Monday’s first run-through!” and there were some mistakes in both the choir and the orchestra. Don’t worry, we “fixed” them in subsequent rehearsals!

The second article was found in the TGIF section, and was titled: “Bach’s ultimate choral work is viewed as a testament to his art.” and you can see a picture of Les Ceballos, tenor, and Andrew Eckard, cello, rehearsing. I’m at the continuo organ in the back.

Here’s a tidbit for you: In the article, Mark says that Carl exhibited musical talent at a young age. Carl’s mother told me that when he was just a toddler, he told her that she was singing nursery rhymes out of tune! And when he was fiendishly practicing Bartok and Prokofiev, his mother said the family was literally driven out of the house. The family just didn’t know how to handle a musician.

This morning on Hawaii Public Radio, Noe Tanigawa’s heart-warming story about the B Minor aired, which you can replay online. It was amazing how she was able to synthesize her interview with Carl and mix in sound bites from others to create a work of art in itself. That’s a professional for you!

Not only is the B-Minor Mass Bach’s ultimate choral work — it’s Carl’s as well.  Bach was called the “Kantor,” and Carl’s position is also called “Cantor” as well. If you look at Bach’s dates — 1685 to 1750 — you will see that Bach lived for 65 years. This is also Carl’s 65th year on the planet, but of course, we’re all hoping he lives longer than that! But is it a coincidence or what?! But there’s where the similarities end — we DON’T have 20 children, as Bach did!

See you tonight!