What a week itʻs been! but now that it’s Monday as I write this, we can feel the afterglow of the Glorious Gabrieli concert on September 29th, which on all accounts, was a glorious success. A bunch of LCHers were either involved in the concert (Darel & Georgine Stark, Karyn Castro, Jeremy Wong, Miguel Felipe, Anna Womack, Carl Crosier and myself) or were in the audience. LCH Choir members who volunteered as ushers included Vreni Griffith and Ulrike Scherer. Even the Beckerath continuo organ traveled to St. Andrew’s Cathedral.

After spending five days in Seattle for a family funeral, we came home last Monday, and Tuesday we collapsed from exhaustion. Wednesday night there was a rehearsal with the soloists, Thursday night was LCH Choir rehearsal, and Friday night was the dress rehearsal with the orchestra and choir. Saturday night was the concert, and last night (Sunday) I played for Evensong at St. Andrew’s Cathedral.

In the midst of all of this, guess who typed the program for the Gabrieli concert. Yup, you guessed it, yours truly! And I didnʻt get a chance to even start the layout until Thursday afternoon. Poor Ian Capps (president of Early Music Hawaii, the sponsoring organization) took the program to the printers after the Friday dress rehearsal, and was only assured at 1:30 am (the early morning of the concert) that the programs would be indeed ready in time. You can click here to see the complete program.

We were also privileged to host tenor soloist Matthew Tresler and his lovely fiancée, Gabrielle Tinto, for the last week, so along with post-rehearsal and post-concert parties, we have had quite a week! You may remember that Matt was one of the three extraordinary tenors who came to sing the Monteverdi Vespers in November 2010.

Here are some of the notes people have written us about the concert:

The Glorious Gabrieli concert was another Honolulu musical landmark. I was glad I was in the audience. The UH Chamber Singers, vocal soloists and ensemble singers, and instrumentalists were nothing less than incredible from beginning to end.  Conductors Carl and Miguel were marvelous leaders of so many musical presentations and varieties called for in this musical style. (J. M.)

Thank you for putting together such a splendid concert last night! (M.R.)

Congratulations for creating a concert that was very satisfying to perform, but most importantly, one that I feel must have been a real treat for the people listening in St. Andrew’s. (S. F.)

Even Carl Crosier said, “This music presented many challenges for me as I know it did for all of us. But in the end, it was really worth the effort. This quality of musical art is definitely worth the time invested.”