Last month when I published the newsletter for my condo association, I listed the following checklist before going on vacation:

1. Filling out a Resident Vacation Form to let the office know how long you’ll be gone.
2. Putting your mail on hold.
3. Putting a vacation stop to the daily newspaper.
4. Unplugging electronics.
5. Getting someone to water your plants.
6. Arranging for pet care.
7. Turning off the water shut-off valves.

I don’t have any house plants or pets to care for, but I did have a few more items on my checklist:

a. I just finished my last two gigs of the season:

Last Sunday, I played for Karl Bachman at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church while he was in Ohio presiding over the wedding of his nephew. What is unique at Our Redeemer is that they have a talented trumpeter, Roger Koopman, who plays every Sunday on the hymns and liturgy, and is frequently joined by other instruments (trumpet, horn, etc.).

Contrary to what you might think of a trumpet playing on every hymn, Roger’s playing is musical and sensitive, and just adds another voice to the ensemble. Besides, Roger composes his own excellent descants, which add a nice touch.

Friday, I played the organ at Punahou School for a chapel service of their Summer School faculty.

b. At the May 28th annual dinner meeting of the Hawaii Chapter American Guild of Organists, I was unanimously elected to the position of Chapter Dean. (Groan!) That means that I have had to make arrangements with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra to reserve a block of seats for the Hawaii AGO because the opening concert of the 2018-2019 season will feature maverick organist Cameron Carpenter, the first time ever the Symphony has engaged a guest organist. (The AGO had nothing to do with the invitation—let’s just say that I’ll reserve judgment on this decision after the September 23rd concert!)

c. I just finished laying out the 2018-2019 season brochure for Early Music Hawaii. Next season Early Music Hawaii will begin with a concert called “Treasures of the French Baroque” on September 15, and will feature concerts by visiting ensembles, Tempesta di Mare (from Philadelphia), and ¡Sacabuche!, an early brass group which has been to Hawaii on two other occasions.

So aside from a couple of doctor appointments and organ lessons to teach, I’m ready to embark on a 41-day trip of Europe! (I just bought a new suitcase and have already filled it with omiyage: chocolate macadamia candy and macadamia shortbread cookies from Hawaii). I’ll also have to pack my organ music and shoes, as you will read below:

June 26-28. It will take me two days to fly to London, where I’ll check into a hotel and meet up with former Honolulu resident Joan Ishibashi to rest before flying to Vienna.

June 29-July 8. I will join Tim Carney and the Hawaii Masterworks Chorus (56 choristers + guests: total 80 people) in their tour of Vienna, Salzburg and Prague. A highlight will be to join the Haydn Orchester Eisenstadt for a performance of Haydn’s Nicolaimesse in the Sunday morning service at Bergkirche, where the composer is buried. We will also visit Mozart’s birthplace in Salzburg and have a performance at St. Salvator Church in Prague.

July 8-16. In my fifth GoAhead Tour, I’ll visit Amsterdam, Luxembourg and Brussels for ten days. My plane from Prague to Amsterdam is early enough so that I hope to catch the Sunday service at St. Nicolas Basilica, where I had the fortune to play the organ and meet the organist, Michael Hedley, in April. And I’ll get to revisit one of my favorite places in Amsterdam, the Van Gogh Museum! (I can’t stay away from the museum store!) We will also visit the town of Delft, churches and palaces in these colorful and charming cities.

July 16-21. I’ll spend a week with Hans and Christiane Erbsloeh in Hamburg, Germany where I’ve been promised that we’ll visit pipe organs, of course! This will be absolutely fantastic, as I’ll have the organs all to myself and no five-minute time limit on playing (as is the rule on Historic Organ Study Tours.) Hopefully I’ll also get to see the Elbphilharmonie, a new concert hall in Hamburg.

July 21-27. A week in London will follow, visiting Joan Ishibashi and where we’ll be taking in sights not usually on the tourist to-do list. One day we plan to take a day trip to Gloucester to meet my former student, Joey Fala, who will be on tour with the Duke University Chapel Choir. The Choir will be in residence and sing Evensong every day at Gloucester Cathedral, in addition to performing at St. Martin in the Fields and Westminster Abbey in London.

July 28-Aug. 2. I’ll be back at the Three Choirs Festival, which this year will be held in Hereford, 140 miles from London. (Check out the full program here.) What will be fun will be to have Joan Ishibashi join me for three days in Hereford.

Aug. 2-4. It will take me another two days to get back to Honolulu, including an overnight stay at an airport hotel at London Heathrow.

Unfortunately I’ll have to leave the festival a couple days early so I can “rest up” back in Hawaii before crossing two ponds again for the Historic Organ Study Tour in Switzerland, August 23-September 1.

You think that’s enough traveling for now? Wrong again! I’ll be flying to California in early October for my high school’s 50th class reunion.