“Britten? I thought I was only playing Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms!” (for the University of Hawaii Choirs concert this weekend). So the day before I left for Italy, I got an email from Miguel Felipe titled “would you hate me if …” and the rest of the message said, “…I told you there was another piece I… Read More Back to Bernstein and Britten
We had to say “arrivederci” to Rome on Friday morning and to all my new friends which I met on this trip. The security lines at the airport were horrendous — I must have spent two hours standing in a very disorganized line to get through border patrol, and people were pushing, angry and upset. For… Read More Feeling guilty
Today six of us took the optional tour to Pompei, three hours away by bus. Along the way, our tour leader, Barbara, led us in a very interesting discussion about funeral and death practices in Italy as we passed a cemetery. You see, Italy is a very small country in terms of land area, yet… Read More Pompei, ancient sin city?
When I saw that I could sign up for a tour called “Papal Audience,” I jumped at the chance. Even though there are free tickets to attend Pope Francis’ weekly address to the audience in St. Peter’s Square, I willingly forked over $40 to have the opportunity to get closer to the pontiff. According to… Read More The people’s Pope
You heard of the movie called “The Temptation of the Christ?” I’m calling this blog post “The Temptation of the Tourist!” We live in an age where people whip out their cellphones and take photos of their food they are served in restaurants before they eat. Or they attend their kid’s piano recital and use the video… Read More The temptation of the . . . tourist
We may not have walked over the seven hills of Rome today, but my feet sure felt like it! According to my step-counting app, I took 13,019 steps today, and with most of those taken on hills rather than level ground, all I can say is “Oh, my aching feet!” Any thoughts of getting a… Read More The seven hills of Rome
It took 36 hours in transit to get from Honolulu all the way to Rome, Italy (by way of San Francisco, Newark and Montreal) but I’m finally here! A few mishaps along the way — like leaving my credit card in the United Airlines kiosk when printing out my boarding pass and baggage tickets… Read More Finally in Rome!
Probably the most famous organist ever was the legendary E. Power Biggs, who made a name for himself and the pipe organ through his many recordings. For me, I had an E. Power Biggs LP record of Bach organ works (Do kids these days even know what LPs are/were?) which I played absolutely to death while… Read More Vibes from E. Power Biggs
According to the calendar on my phone, I was to leave today for my tour to Rome, Italy. So I stopped the newspaper and the mail, and packed my suitcase. I’m all ready to go! It was when I tried to arrange a ride to the airport, I thought I’d double-check the time of my… Read More Reprieve
Karl Bachman remarked to me, “It’s so Carl!” when he heard the chant Ubi caritas sung in procession from the courtyard at last Sunday’s All Saints Day concert in memory of Carl Crosier. The concert began with seven peals from the courtyard bell, then the slow procession of the Lutheran Church of Honolulu Choir and the Hawaii Vocal… Read More It’s so Carl!