Our late friend and colleague, John McCreary, retired from St. Andrew’s Cathedral and Iolani School, used to lament the typically poor attendance at organ recitals. He’d say something like, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, let there be an organ recital!” (or something like that!), a take-off on the Matthew 18:20 text: For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

In this town, there have been some notable exceptions. Years ago, when Pierre Cochereau of Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, France, played a concert at St. Andrew’s Cathedral Honolulu, the place was absolutely packed to the rafters. More recently, Paul Jacobs of the Juilliard School, had huge audiences both at St. Andrew’s Cathedral and Central Union Church. I think someone counted like over 700 people at Central Union. But these have been exceptions, rather than the rule.

Last weekend we sent out 800 postcards advertising my Bach Great Eighteen Chorales concerts on August 18th and 25th. We listed “Advance reservations” and put the website address to order tickets. All indications are that we may have a big crowd as tickets are selling well! I have also received several phone calls — and from people who saw it in the paper and are not on our mailing list.

I certainly don’t put myself in the category of Pierre Cochereau or Paul Jacobs, but people have followed my career in this town for 40 years. Perhaps people are curious as to whether I can still play the organ given my condition of macular degeneration. Some people have even asked whether these are my swan song — my last concerts. (Who knows?!) So please order your tickets today! Here again is the link.

Other logistics to consider: The biggie— Parking. Please park in the church’s Poki Lot (located one half block mauka) and let’s save the lot directly behind the church for the handicapped and elderly who cannot walk far.

If you have reserved tickets you can pick them up at the Will Call table. When you enter the courtyard, there will be three lines — one for Will Call, one for cash and checks, and the other for credit cards. Because these concerts have been sold as a pair, this is one instance where “Your program is NOT your ticket!” Everyone will be given a ticket to be collected at the door, and there are different colored tickets for each concert. Seating, though, is open. There are no assigned seats.

The two programs are different and are not identical. It turns out that the music at the August 18th concert might be more familiar to LCH parishioners since that was the music that was part of my repertoire for the past 35 years. The August 25th concert includes five new pieces which I just learned this past spring.

Psst! If you want a sneak preview of the program, click here: Gt 18 Program