Four concerts in one weekend? Is that a little bit much or what? Two of the concerts I’m attending are by choral groups led by musical colleagues, another is one in which two of my students are performing, and the last is one in which I’ll be playing.

Friday night, I’ll be attending the Spring concert of Karol Nowicki’s Karolers at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, 7:00 pm. Although the “a cappella” vocal ensemble originally came together to sing Christmas carols, they have now branched off into other repertoire. Many in the group are also members of the Early Music Hawaii Chamber Singers, and in fact will be appearing in the opening fall concert of EMH on September 16, 2017. Even though the group is named after Karol, they mostly “self-conduct” without a director.

On Saturday afternoon at 4:30 pm, Sophia and Raphael, two of my young organ students will be performing at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu. They have only been playing less than two years, and both have made remarkable progress. Sophia will be playing the famous “Toccata in D minor” by J.S. Bach (the fugue will have to wait a bit!) and Raphael will play a “ciacona,” showing off how easily he can push pistons to change the stops for the variations.

Jeremy Wong, choral conductor, will direct his final concert of the Honolulu Chorale on Saturday night at 7:30 pm at Kawaiaha’o Church.

Entitled “America,” this concert aims to highlight the diverse musical traditions and cultures that embody all of the United States of America. From folk tunes and spiritual arrangements, to gospel and Hawaiian music, it will be an evening not to be missed.

Jeremy M. Wong, who leaves the Chorale after three seasons, will assume the role of Choral Director and yearlong sabbatical replacement at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

Finally, on Sunday afternoon, May 21st at 4:00 pm, I will be playing the first half of a Rededication Concert on the J. W. Walker organ at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Kailua. (The other half will be played by Mark Wong.)

Here’s my program:

Chorale Preludes from the Schübler and Great Eighteen (J. S. Bach 1685-1750)
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645
Woll soll ich fliehen hin, BWV 646
Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr, BWV 662
Komm, heiliger Geist, BWV 651a
From Rubrics, “The peace may be exchanged (Dan Locklair, b. 1949)
Fantasia in F minor, K. 608 (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1756-1791)

Thanks to the restoration work of Hans-Ulrich Erbsloeh last February, the organ is now one of the better instruments on this island. Hans, with his assistant, Berndt, took down every single pipe, cleaned and revoiced the instrument, and fixed many mechanical parts of the organ which were worn out or broken.

What is new is the zimbelstern, given by Terry Werning in memory of her father. (In case you forgot what a zimbelstern is, you can go back and read my post, “Zounds! the zimbelstern”) A zimbelstern acts as an additional mixture stop, and when engaged, adds a sparkle and twinkling to the ensemble. When the zimbelstern is on, the star turns with the ringing of small bells.

You can be sure I’ll be using it!

(And I’ll collapse in a heap when this weekend is over!)