Tonight Carl and I attended the Crescendo! fundraiser for the Hawaii Vocal Arts Ensemble, honoring Gloria Moore Faltstrom. Gloria was Carl’s immediate predecessor as organist of the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, but then became organist of Waiokeola Congregational Church where she remained for 26 years before retiring in 2005.

It was 19 years ago that Hawai‘i Vocal Arts Ensemble was founded by a triumvirate consisting of Carl Crosier, Tim Carney and David Kayner. Both Tim and David have sung with the LCH Choir (and David also sung in Compline Choir) — and in fact Tim sang the Bass I solos in our performance of the St. Matthew Passion on ten days’ notice! You can hear Tim’s baritone solo in Dietrich Buxtehude’s Magnificat on the LCH Choir’s CD, Let my prayer come up as the incense.

The Hawai‘i Vocal Arts Ensemble is “known for its tonal beauty and its imaginative programming,” and has been conducted by Tim Carney for the last 19 years. Carl Crosier was the honoree at Crescendo! in 2006.

During Gloria’s speech after dinner, she talked about some of her many musical experiences in Hawaii, including singing in the Lutheran Church of Honolulu Choir under the direction of Joseph Hansen. She also talked about singing in the Honolulu Ensemble Singers, which was also directed by Joe. When Honolulu Ensemble Singers disbanded in the 1980s, their library of Heinrich Schütz’ music was “inherited” by LCH.

Congratulations, Gloria, and thank you for your many contributions to the musical life of Honolulu!