In my last post, I wrote about the upcoming 65th anniversary of Compline which will be celebrated at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle after 65 years of weekly services . I couldn’t help but think all of that was due to the work of one man, namely Peter R. Hallock, our former business partner of 28 years in the company called Ionian Arts, and our dear friend of nearly 40 years.

Over the course of those nearly 40 years, there were literally thousands of letters, faxes and emails between Carl Crosier and Peter Hallock, to which Peter always ended with, “Love, prh.” As I wrote in one of my earliest blog posts, “Peter Hallock — The Hawaii Connection, Part I“:

Carl Crosier attended the University of Washington and frequently attended major musical services, concerts and Compline at St. Mark’s. He says he was most impressed by the Compline service, which he attended in the early 1960s. In those days it was heard by only 70 or 80 people and not the hundreds who attend today. It was Carl’s first exposure to plainsong, and the sound of the choir singing chant in the dark, cavernous Cathedral made a lasting impression.

When Carl moved to Honolulu in 1972, the experiences at St. Mark’s were still very much on his mind as LCH decided to re-energize its music ministry, through the renovation of the nave and the installation of a major tracker organ.

Carl wrote to Peter, asking for copies of some of his music, and Peter most generously complied. Most of the music was still in manuscript form. However, since Peter’s handwriting was difficult to read, Carl decided to prepare new editions. This was in the days before personal computers and music software, so he re-did the scores in his neat handwriting. Peter was delighted by the rewritten manuscripts and in fact, submitted some of them to G.I.A. for publication.

So I’ve thought of that letter and email signoff in connection with an upcoming symposium which will introduce some of Peter’s previously unpublished works in addition to a keynote address and panel discussion.

Last month, Jason Anderson, director of the Hallock Institute, asked me to design an ad for the upcoming symposium—and this is what was published in the latest newsletters of the Association of Anglican Musicians and the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians:

The Hallock Institute, a ministry of the Diocese of Olympia, oversees an archive of the music and papers of Peter R. Hallock and manages the assets of the Institute. The Institute creates editions of Hallock’s unpublished works; advocates, publicizes and broadens the audience for Hallock’s music; makes small grants to support the performance of his music; and presents workshops and educational symposia focused on Hallock’s music and liturgical innovations and the Compline Choir.

[Disclosure: I am a director on the board of the Hallock Institute.]

Here are the events which will happen in October:

Schedule for October 16

10:30 AM – 11:30 AM Pacific: Lecture/Demonstration (webinar)
with Dr. Jason Anderson, Director of the Peter R. Hallock Institute

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM Pacific: Curated Exhibits/Q&A (in-person)

1:00 PM – 2:30 PM Pacific: Panel Discussion (webinar)
with Jason Anderson, Mel Butler, Jonathan Dimmock, George Emblom, Jeremy Filsell, David Ouzts, and Kevin Siegfried.

Schedule for October 17

11:00 AM – 12:15 PM Pacific: Saint Mark’s: Holy Eucharist (in-person or livestream) with music by Peter Hallock prominently featured

2:00 PM – 4:00 PM Pacific: Choral Music Reading Session (in-person or livestream)
with music especially well-suited for smaller church and parish choirs

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM Pacific: Curated Exhibits/Q&A (in-person)

9:30 PM – 10:00 PM Pacific: Compline 65th Alumni + Compline service (in-person or livestream)
with music by Peter Hallock prominently featured

The symposium is completely free. More information may be obtained from the Hallock Institute website, hallockinstitute.org.

Here’s a video of Jason with snippets of Peter’s music in the background.

Gorgeous music, isn’t it?!