If you happen to be in the Holyoke area of Massachusetts this weekend (an hour and a half west of Boston), perhaps you can catch Joey Fala’s concert at the United Church, Sunday, June 18 at 2:00 pm. It is the first concert he is playing post-Yale, having graduated with a Master of Music degree in Organ Performance. Woo hoo!

On Joey’s Facebook page he also posted: Thinking back on all the incredible memories during my time at Yale and St. Paul’s as things are wrapping up in New Haven… but super excited to move on to Durham in August to serve as organ scholar at Duke!

How nice to see that Joey’s name was permanently affixed to a plaque at the church, celebrating his time as organ scholar at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Norwalk, CT. I believe his stint here was as every bit as educational to him as was all the class work at Yale. When I visited the church in February, a parishioner came up to me (thinking I was Joey’s mother!) to express her appreciation for his work there. 

Joey’s “calabash” Uncle Gary Loughrey will fly him to Durham with all his worldly possessions and help him move in before Joey spends a month in Hawaii, doing what else, playing organ recitals! In case you need the schedule again, here it is:

Saturday, July 8, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kula, Maui, 6:30 pm, Oberlinger organ.

Saturday, July 15, Kawaiaha’o Church, Honolulu, 7:00 pm rededicates its recently refurbished Aeolian-Skinner organ.

Sunday, July 23, St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, Kailua, 4:00 pm, continues its organ series on its recently renovated J. W. Walker organ.

Joey will also be teaching some of my students while I am away in Eastern Europe and England in July.

Aren’t they the lucky ones!