It’s now five days before Thanksgiving and my frozen turkey is safely thawing in my refrigerator. I will be cooking this year and will have 8 people around the table. Once that is over, the Christmas season will be in full swing, and look out! I will be playing five concerts, four services (that I know of, so far!), one school assembly and umpteen rehearsals in the next few weeks before I get on the plane to spend the holidays with my family in California… and none of the music is a repeat. (Hey, I thought I was supposed to be retired! LOL!)
(The reason that I came up with that number of obligations so far is that I never know when an emergency might arise, and I’ll end up playing a funeral or a wedding, or some other unplanned service! Like the funeral I’m playing this afternoon at Iolani School!)
On December 2nd is the Organ Plus concert at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, beginning with refreshments at 6:30 pm in the courtyard, and the concert at 7:00 pm in the church.
It’s possible that you may not know some of the names in the poster, so we’ll begin with Jieun Kim Newland, my duet partner.
Jieun and I work well together. She is here in Hawaii because her husband, Ben, is an Army chaplain stationed at Schofield Barracks. A native of Seoul, South Korea, Jieun holds a bachelor’s degree from the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and a master’s degree from Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University where she studied organ with Thomas Murray, organ improvisation with Jeffrey Brillhart and harpsichord with Richard Rephann. We are giving an entire duet concert of Bach transcriptions on January 18, 2020, and will give you a sneak preview of two of the pieces: the Concerto in C major after Prince Johann Ernst, BWV 595 and the Concerto in A minor after Vivaldi, BWV 593. These two duets will open and close the December program.
Next will come Benedetto Marcello’s “Sonata in D minor” for organ and recorder. Jieun will be playing with Charles Coldwell, who is flying in from Seattle. He has been featured as recorder soloist with the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Baroque Northwest, Philharmonia Northwest, and the Obbligato Players (with Jieun Newland); and appeared in performances by the Tudor Choir, St. Mark’s Cathedral Associates, and The Early Music Guild of Seattle. Charles holds a Master of Music degree in the Performance of Early Music from the New England Conservatory of Music (Boston), and served on the faculties of the New England Conservatory and the Longy School of Music (Cambridge, MA) as an instructor in recorder and historical performance practices. Charles is married to Maria Coldwell, former executive director of Early Music America, and last year they bought a condo in Hawaii and will be here for several months before returning to Seattle. Maria is committed to singing in St. Mark’s Cathedral (Seattle) O Antiphon service on December 1st, and will be joining Charles a few days later. In the meantime he will be my houseguest!
I found this photo of the Obbligato Players, where you can see Jieun seated at a positiv organ and Charles standing in the back. They are joined by violinist Cecilia Archuleta.
Luke Reed will be playing with Jieun on two fantasias by Johann Krebs on trombone, and “Laudate Dominum” by Claudio Monteverdi. He is a native of Charleston, SC, and has been immersed in music his entire life. Born to two French horn players, his informal music education began long before he took his first breath. He began Suzuki violin at age five and enthusiastically switched to a wind instrument as soon as band was offered at his school. He settled on the trombone and within two months began teaching trombone to a classmate. He has been teaching and performing trombone all over the world for the past 23 years. He is here in Hawaii with the Navy, as you can see by his uniform.
Darel Stark will be joining us on violin, and will be playing in two trio sonatas and the famous Albinoni (sic) “Adagio.” He is no stranger to Honolulu audiences, having served as the associate principal violin of the Honolulu Symphony and the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. Born in New York City, Darel studied violin with Nicole DiCecco, Lazar Gosman and Berl Senofsky. He is a graduate of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. His many accolades include prizes at the Michelangelo Abbado International Competition in Italy and the Tibor Varga International Competition in Switzerland, a TIME Magazine College Achievement Award, two Friedberg Prizes in chamber music from the Peabody Conservatory, and prizes in over a dozen local and national competitions.
Last, but certainly not least, I will be playing with Sara Ricer on oboe in two Bach sinfonias and a trio sonata by Albinoni. I first met Sara when I played the organ at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church where she was singing soprano. Sara earned a Bachelor of Music in Performance and Education from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied oboe with Richard Killmer. Currently, she performs with the Maui Chamber Orchestra and Maui Pops Orchestra and has performed with the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra, Royal Hawaiian Band, First Presbyterian Church Orchestra, Genesee Symphony (New York), OSSIA New Music (New York), Springfield Symphony (Ohio), the Banff Music Festival (Alberta, Canada), and the Steve Reich: Reich@70 concert at Carnegie Hall.
I hope you all have put this fun concert on your calendars—come for the refreshments and stay for the music! It’s a free concert, but donations are encouraged.