I went to the Vivaldi Four Seasons concert last night as part of the First Mondays Concerts at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, and the work absolutely sizzled under violinist Darel Stark, who played from memory and held us on the edge of our seats with breathless tempos and a stunning display of virtuosity and… Read More Stunningly sizzling!
Yesterday was a travel day, always an ordeal no matter the distance. Our objective was to fly from Copenhagen to London Heathrow, then use the Elizabeth train line to reach Kings Cross, from where we could take a National Rail train to Cambridge. Once we reached the Cambridge rail station we could take a taxi… Read More A day in Cambridge
The Early Music Hawaii concert, “Rome 1600,” is now over, and here are my thoughts: When I saw the words “Singers Circle” on the rehearsal schedule for our pre-concert warmup, I had no idea what it was, never having heard this term before. Most of us performers met in Isenberg Hall just prior to entering… Read More Singers Circle
Tonight was Early Music Hawaii’s dress rehearsal for tomorrow night’s concert: Rome 1600! The Glories of the Italian Baroque. The concert features the Early Music Hawaii Ensemble of Singers and Players, conducted by Scott Fikse. The great dramas of early Baroque Rome were the Oratorios—operatic illustrations of biblical stories, the lives of martyrs or principles… Read More Rome 1600—A grand spectacle!
On Saturday, we received a text message from choirmaster Mike Dupre: Tomorrow is Laetare Sunday! Anyone want to wear Rose/pink tomorrow? According to Wikipedia, Laetare Sunday is the fourth Sunday in the season of Lent, in the Western Christian liturgical calendar. Traditionally, this Sunday has been a day of celebration within the austere period of Lent. This Sunday gets… Read More Laetare Sunday pink
I’ve just come from the Early Music Hawaii concert by Les Délices and to say it was outstanding is an understatement —it was medieval perfection! There were only four people in the ensemble but two of them played several instruments: Debra Nagy (recorders, douçaine, harp and voice); Scott Metcalfe (vielle and gothic harp); Sophie Michaux… Read More 14th Century Avant-Garde perfection
I was talking with a friend who wasn’t able to go to the Early Music Hawaii concert last weekend, but she said that the next day at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, *everybody* was talking about the concert and its success. “I went into the Board Room, and they were talking about last night’s concert.… Read More Everybody was talking about …
If you think I’ve « gone silent » lately, you might be right. My last post in this blog was about 11 days ago, and just in that short time, I have been, in one word, overwhelmed— by the number of responsibilities and deadlines I am dealing with. Outside of playing for church every Sunday… Read More Not enough hours in the day!
I’ve been home for a week now, and fighting jet lag (as always); in fact, it’s 3:44 am and I’ve been awake for an hour. So I thought I may as well do something useful and tell you about something that happened on the way home. We only had one stop in San Francisco between… Read More Is your name Kathy?
I’ve just come from one of the most remarkable and incredible choral concerts ever … here at the Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester! Tonight we heard the impossibly difficult, 40-part a cappella motet by Thomas Tallis, Spem in alium, for eight choirs of 5 voices each, considered the greatest piece of English early music. I… Read More Spem in alium … and more!