This afternoon Carl Crosier and I attended the wedding of Yuri McCoy and Asuka Okamoto at St. Andrew’s Cathedral, two musicians from opposite ends of the globe — he from West Virginia and she from Kobe, Japan. They met four years ago when they both attended the University of Hawaii to study piano. It was most interesting to me to see what music they chose for their wedding, especially since Yuri has been the Organ Scholar at St. Andrew’s (which is how we know him). I knew that the music was going to be extraordinary!
There was no prelude. The service began with the blowing of the pū (conch shell) and the singing of the oli (Hawaiian chant) as the choir processed into the nave. Here then is the rest of the music performed:
Procession of the Bridal Party: I was glad (Hubert Parry)
— Yuri played the organ for this!
Hymn: Lord, make us servants of your peace (Dickinson College)
Psalm 128 (Yuri McCoy)
Anthem following sermon: I sat down under his shadow (Edward C. Bairstow)
Blessing Anthem: Ubi caritas et amor (Maurice Duruflé)
Postlude: Prelude and Fugue in D major (J. S. Bach)
I half expected Yuri to play the postlude, too, but instead it was John Renke who played a grand rendition of this great work. Unfortunately there was a cipher on the trumpet stop, but luckily it was on “A” which was in the right key!
The music was all elegantly presented, and St. Andrew’s Choir sounded especially beautiful. One thing that was interesting to note was the brief delay after the magnificent Parry anthem, “I was glad,” while Yuri changed out of his organ shoes!
Following the wedding there was a short concert in the Cathedral and both Yuri and Asuka played.
By the way, Carl and I will soon celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary on July 15th and we too performed during our wedding. I played “Tierce en taille” by Couperin during the communion, and Carl sang Duruflé’s “Ubi caritas” with the choir.
We wish for Yuri and Asuka many years of happiness!
I’m embedding Kings College performance of Ubi caritas for your listening and viewing pleasure.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwR_dM-1MlU?rel=0&w=480&h=360]
[…] page was the picture of Yuri McCoy, whose wedding I attended at St. Andrew’s Cathedral (“The union of musical minds”) where he was the Organ Scholar under John Renke. Yuri also performed Arnold Schoenberg’s […]
[…] (I wrote a post about Yuri playing for his own wedding at St. Andrew’s which you can read by clicking here.) He is currently a doctoral student with organist Ken Cowan at Rice University in Houston, and has […]