There were a bunch of people at the St. Andrew’s Priory’s choir concert last night who were beaming with pride. It was Naomi Castro’s choral directing debut in her new role as director of choral activities, a position she was hired for just two days before the school term began. For Jimmy and Olivia Castro (her parents) and for Carl Crosier and myself it was a life of music come full circle, a new generation to lead song. As you may remember in an earlier post,I played for Jimmy and Olivia’s wedding at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu thirty years ago, and both of them have sung in the choirs — Olivia in the mixed choir and Jimmy in the 8:00 ensemble. Daughters Naomi and Karyn have grown up in the rich musical culture of the parish, in addition to being active in Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus. All four Castros are active in the LCH music program.

It was a fantastic concert and the sweet tone of the choirs soared in the ambiant acoustics of the cathedral. The repertoire was full of interesting and varied pieces — I especially liked the lovely setting of Christina Rossetti’s text, “In the bleak midwinter” by Bob Chilcott. I was amazed to see that all the music was memorized (by both the choirs and director), which included three-part harmony in many pieces.  The girls not only sounded beautiful — everyone looked happy, too! I was also proud of  Carl Crosier for his excellent piano accompaniment throughout — Naomi listed him as “Phenomenal accompanist” in the program!

Congratulations, Naomi, on your excellent work with the Priory girls!