At this time of year, you’ll hear a lot of chatter among organists and other church musicians about waiting with baited breath for “The Chord,” and everyone knows what you’re talking about! I wait for this chord all year, and even though I know it’s coming, when I sing my note and hear the chord underneath,… Read More “The Chord”
When I picked up the mail and my packages this afternoon, my heart skipped a beat when I saw that I had received a parcel from my dear friend, Joan Ishibashi, about whom I’ve written several posts on this blog. Joan was my son’s Confirmation teacher back in the day, and served as the Executive… Read More Early Christmas present!
This is the time of year where you summarize the year in terms of numbers. For example, I received these notifications from Duolingo, the foreign language app, about my progress in learning Spanish. As you can see by the above, I have an unbroken streak of 1955 days — as of November 30, 2024 when… Read More The year in numbers
I love Thanksgiving — my favorite holiday of the year. Partly it’s because I usually don’t have any services to play, and I can concentrate on decorating, cooking and enjoying food and the company of my friends. Every year I try to do something a little different, and this year I bought several new items… Read More A day of feasting
I ask my students to bring a notebook so I can write down their assignments and make suggestions for playing more accurately. I always have to smile when a particular student hands me her notebook. Here’s advice from Marilyn Monroe, and others on this subject! Insofar as playing the organ, you must know how important… Read More With the right shoes …!
It’s All Hallows Eve, also known as Halloween, and three guesses as to where I’ll be tonight?! It’s Thursday, meaning that I’ll be at choir rehearsal! It’s the beginning of a huge, super busy weekend for me — (what’s new?!) — beginning with what is sure to be a long rehearsal tonight with three high… Read More All Hallows Eve
From last week’s Evangel, the newsletter from St. Mark’s Episcopal Church: The days are becoming shorter as the sun rises later and the daylight fades earlier. Soon November will be upon us, and we will be celebrating All Hallows-tide. All Hallows, All Saints, and All Souls have been called the fall triduum or three days,… Read More Triple whammy
In last night’s memorial service for Pastor Jeff Lilley, following his sudden death, he was described by his son, Seth as: a pastor, a chef, a handyman, a woodworker, a sailor, a therapist, a painter, a musician, a protector, a bouncer when necessary, a driver, an EMT, a mechanic, an electrician, a plumber, a photographer,… Read More Larger than life
Yesterday, the Lutheran Church of Honolulu (my former parish), posted this on their Facebook page: Many people were in shock and grieving, even those outside of the LCH family. These are some of the comments as shared on Facebook: I am shocked and in grief at the sudden passing of pastor and friend Jeff Lilley… Read More Grieving
I eagerly thumbed through the latest issue of The American Organist, which contained a comprehensive review of the National Convention of the American Guild of Organists I attended, held in San Francisco this past summer. Here’s what I was looking for: In case you’re reading this on your phone, here’s what the review says: Joey… Read More So very proud!