Way back in April, I wrote a post called “An embarrassment of riches” and described the musical treasures at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu— its two Beckerath organs, two harpsichords, two sets of handbells, Grotrien grand piano, etc. — but that its greatest resource was its people. Over the years we have been blessed to have many talented people pass through our doors, and sometimes they come back to visit.

We had dinner last night with two of those special people, Tod and Cynthia Bowermaster, who are vacationing in Hawaii with their two children. As you may remember, Tod and Cynthia both played in the Honolulu Symphony — he played horn and she played violin. Both of them sang in the mixed choir at LCH, and Tod also sang in the Compline choir.

It was twenty years ago on Bach’s birthday, March 21, 1992, that we celebrated their wedding at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu. As far as I can remember, their wedding had the most music of any held at LCH, including our own!

The prelude was all instrumental, and featured Scott Homer, violin, playing a Bach piece accompanied by long-time Honolulu Symphony harpist, Connie Uejio. Connie then played a harp solo: the first Arabesque by Debussy. Cynthia’s brother, Kevin, played a Telemann piece on the piccolo trumpet, then we heard Andante for horn quartet by Bruckner. The brass joined me in the procession: Trumpet Voluntary by John Stanley.

The LCH Choir sang three pieces: Healey Willan’s Rise up my fair one, and Maurice Duruflé’s Ubi caritas during the service, and for the postlude, an unforgettable and heartrending Brahms’ Lass dich nur nichts nichts dauren. Twenty years later, I can still remember all the love and emotion the choir poured into that performance. It gives me shivers just thinking about it.

Tod and Cynthia left Hawaii 17 years ago — Tod is the third horn in the St. Louis Symphony, a position he has held since 1995. He is looking forward to the Symphony’s upcoming tour to Europe in which they will play in four different cities in four days! He also performs with the Sun Valley Summer Symphony and many orchestras throughout the Midwest. Cynthia is also busy as a violinist in the area.

Tod recently released a CD of solo horn music, and you can read a review by the St. Louis classical music critic, Sarah Bryan Miller, by clicking here. She says “Bowermaster plays with a consistently beautiful, singing tone that conveys the deeper meanings of the songs as well as their music. ‘What I’ve hoped is that it’s something people will enjoy listening to, plain and simple,’ Bowermaster says. Bowermaster, an accomplished soprano in his childhood, considered the project for a long time before finally taking it on. ‘I grew up singing before I played the horn,” he says. “I’ve always enjoyed the lyrical aspect of it. Years ago, my wife, Cynthia, was after me to record lullabies for our kids, but I never had time. Our kids aren’t babies now — they’re 10 and 12 — but I thought this was the time to finally do this.’ “

You can purchase Tod’s CD on CDbaby.com, CDUniverse.com, ArkivMusic.com, or on Amazon.com. Individual tracks are available as MP3s on iTunes.
Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/slso-french-hornist-finds-beauty-in-art-songs/article_8bc7857a-5816-5c03-97bd-a4f74bfa55c9.html#ixzz1zdClrYY5