As I am sitting and waiting for my flight to London, I would like to share with you some thoughts on yesterday’s videoconference of the Hallock Institute—an entity which was formed at the death of composer Peter Hallock, our long-time friend and business partner in Ionian Arts music publishing. It seems hard to believe that it’s been four years already since Peter died on April 27, 2014.
President Jason Anderson asked the directors present (including three of us who called in remotely) to share some recollections of Peter, and Gerry van Wesep, once the president of the Compline Choir, answered “gin and pupus!” It was a term Peter most certainly learned from Carl Crosier through our countless number of dinners together, both in Hawaii and in Seattle.
You see, it was (and still is!) a Crosier tradition to start a meal with many pupus, the Hawaiian term for hors d’oeuvres, bite size appetizers, as you can see in the photo below. You can also see martini glasses, holding favorite drinks of both Peter and Carl.
The Hallock Institute, a fully-integrated auxiliary nonprofit corporation of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, has three primary purposes:
To further the legacy of the music and music composition of Peter R. Hallock.
To ensure that the music of and by Peter R. Hallock is known and readily available in reliable performance editions and that Peter R. Hallock’s music is performed regularly.
To ensure that the Compline Choir, or its successor corporation, and its core values and principles are identified, celebrated and shared with others through workshops, symposia and or related opportunities.
Each of us directors shared what we could do to help carry out these objectives. I thought I could publicize the whole concept of the Hallock Institute through this blog!
All of us acknowledged, though, that the work of Peter Hallock is mostly only known by people on the West Coast, even though the Ionian Psalter (our main publication) has been sold in all fifty states, England, Canada, Australia and even Japan!
We’ll be working on getting a lot more of Peter’s music recorded so that more and more people will be able to appreciate his unique musical voice in his compositions. He was a pioneer in so many ways: starting the Compline service at St. Mark’s Cathedral over fifty years ago; overseeing the installation of the great Flentrop organ; innovations in liturgy and liturgical music; authoring the Ionian Psalter, widely used in Episcopal and Lutheran churches; an enthusiastic player in the rise of early music; lifting up the art of countertenor singing, and so much more.
Read about Peter’s connection to Hawaii here (part I) and part II.
Gin and pupus: yes, that brought back happy memories of Peter Hallock (and Carl!)
