The Chapel of the Resurrection – Yet Another Year of Insanity

Chapel of the Resurrection, Valporaiso University

After a hearty breakfast in the hotel, we picked up the car and drove straight to Valparaiso University. We made a beeline for the Chapel of the Resurrection, where the concert will be held tonight. Once inside, we could see a few people setting up the stage area, which will be directly in front of the risen Christ on the cross. Carl recognized Christopher Cock, who is the director of the Bach Institute here.

Apparently the continuo organ is not in the right tuning so Cock was scrambling to find an organ tuner to set the organ at A=415, Valotti tuning before the 3:30 pm rehearsal. For once, this kind of thing is NOT our problem! Makoto Suzuki, who is Masaaki Suzuki’s son, was the one who discovered the continuo organ was set to equal temperament. He and Carl had a very nice conversation.

Schlicker-Dobson organ at Valporaiso University chapel

For Allen Bauchle, a graduate of Valporaiso University, it has been about 15 years since he’s been here last. There are many new buildings on campus. They have THREE organs in this spectacular building, a large Schlicker in the rear gallery refurbished by Dobson, and two smaller positiv organs. The continuo organ on stage is the FOURTH organ presently in the building. I understand, though, that the continuo organ is owned by the Bach Institute and was built by Klop.

Peter Kooij remembered Carl from Saintes, France!

We went out to lunch and then came back to the chapel to find the rehearsal has been pushed back to 4 pm. The choir and orchestra was starting to arrive, and Carl got a chance to re-connect with Peter Kooij, the bass soloist, whom we had met at the music festival in Saintes, last summer in France.

Masaaki Suzuki, the conductor of the Bach Collegium Japan, arrived right at 4 pm and went right to work, starting with the “Credo.” This really wasn’t a rehearsal, but rather just a sound check, and Suzuki constantly went back into the hall to check the balances between soloists and orchestra.

We can tell already that this is going to be a FABULOUS concert! The choir and orchestra sound absolutely wonderful! What a treat this is going to be!

The rehearsal didn’t end until a little after 5 pm, giving us just a few minutes to go back to the hotel and change. We were invited to a pre-concert reception by Lorraine Brugh, Valporaiso University organist which starts at 5:30 pm.