It all started with an inquiry to my Ionian Arts email account last January 28th, 2016: Dear Mrs. Crosier, I found your email address on the Ionian Arts website. I hope it is O.K. to contact you. My wife and I may be moving from Cape Cod MA to Honolulu in the coming months and I am trying to make musical contacts with people who might know of churches looking for organists/ directors of music, teaching opportunities in schools or any musical opportunities in early music performance. I am attaching my resume to give you an idea of my background. Please feel free to share with anyone who might be able to help.

And the next thing you know, four months later, Todd and Jennifer Beckham are my houseguests until the apartment I found for them is ready! You see I spent the last month scouring Craigslist, RentJungle, Zillow, HotPads and other housing rental websites looking for an apartment for the Beckhams in their preferred area. This included putting my email on alerts for new bookings, calling real estate companies, setting up appointments with real estate agents, and going onsite to take pictures to email back to them. It has taken a lot of energy, but it’s been so much fun. (Hmmm… a new career for me?)

Todd (countertenor) and Jennifer (soprano) have already sung several services with St. Andrew’s Cathedral Choir since their arrival last Tuesday — his impressive resumé most recently included Organist/Director of Music of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, Falmouth, MA; Countertenor chorister at First Church, Cambridge, MA; Conductor of the Meridian Singers at MIT; Harpsichord Tutor/Ensemble Coach at Harvard University. Todd graduated as an organ performance major from Youngstown State University, OH, and obtained a master of music in organ and harpsichord performance from Converse College, Spartanburg, SC. He also did postgraduate studies in choral conducting and sacred music from Boston University. As for singing, he was in Dame Emma Kirkby‘s masterclass at Dartington, UK in 2000 and 2002, and studied with Max van Egmond throughout 1982 to 2009 at the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute.

Jennifer will be working at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration office in Honolulu and is transferring from the NOAA office in Massachusetts. I found out that they met at Todd’s last church job — she joined the choir and started dating the choirmaster! They are essentially newlyweds and have only been married about a year.

Guess what! Todd and Jennifer are moving into an apartment in the very same building I live in! What fun it will be to be neighbors!