Due to jet lag, I’ve been in a cocoon the last ten days after having returned from my European tour. It was a glorious two weeks of seeing magnificent cathedrals, stunning organ cases, eating scrumptious food, getting acquainted with new and old friends as well as enjoying time with family (my two sisters.)

Each day of the trip my two sisters and I tried to take a “Three Sisters” photo as shown in the slideshow below. It was the first time the three of us had traveled together since we were children!

On our last day we adopted a fourth “sister,” Jieun Kim Newland.

Just four days after returning to Honolulu, I again found myself on an airplane as I flew to Kauai to teach organ students!

However, I have emerged from my cocoon to attend several concerts, two of which brought pure joy to the listeners.

The first was the baroque ensemble of Quicksilver: Robert Mealy and Julie Andrijeski, violins; Charles Weaver, lute and Avi Stein, harpsichord. What was absolutely astounding was the group’s incredible ensemble—that’s musicianspeak for how well they were in sync and played together. It’s all the most remarkable considering they had only one day of rehearsal together. You see, while Robert and Avi live in New York City, Julie lives in Cleveland and Charles lives in Connecticut.

Julie was my houseguest for three nights and we talked about how it’s always amazing when you find other musicians who are “on the same wavelength,” and you can truly make music together. She said that the first time she played with Robert years ago she remembered how easy it was to play together. Since then they have recorded over 80 CDs and played together in countless concerts. I’ve heard them numerous times at the Boston Early Music Festival.

What amazed me was learning that Julie grew up in Idaho and started violin lessons at a very young age… using the Suzuki method! Yes, can you imagine Julie playing “Twinkle, twinkle little star” ?

Then last night, I attended the Oahu Choral Society concert with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra performing Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana,” always a crowd-pleaser. It was truly a cast of thousands, with the performers including not only the Oahu Choral Society, but also the University of Hawaii choirs, the Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus and the seventh grade choir of Punahou School. I was most anxious to hear Kangmin Justin Kim, countertenor, whom my friend Jieun Kim Newland said she was tempted to fly to Honolulu to hear. He certainly did not disappoint, although I wished his part in the concert lasted a lot longer! However, all the soloists were excellent, and when the last note of the concert sounded, the entire audience exploded in applause and with a standing ovation.

I was most interested to read this in the program: Kangmin Justin Kim was born in South Korea and grew up in Chicago. He studied voice, opera, and musical theater at Northwestern University in Evanston and the Royal Academy of Music, London.  Between rehearsals, he can often be seen knitting, for which he is well-known in the knitting world as he has modeled knitwear for magazines and books.

I came home also to two new organ students, so there’s no rest for the wicked!