In this week leading up to the anniversary of the Beckerath organ, I can’t help but think that there were three important people forty years ago who are no longer with us: Rudolf von Beckerath, Carl Crosier and McNeil Robinson who were so instrumental in putting this organ on the map: Rudolf von Beckerath, for building… Read More Remembering Neil
This week is my last of “regular” chapel services at Iolani School, and Chaplain Dan Leatherman surprised me yesterday at the 7th-8th grade chapel by calling me out and giving me a lei in front of the whole assembly. Part of the service was a dialogue — the students were asked which person they had most… Read More Ending of an era
In the last week, this blog has received numerous hits while searching for “McNeil Robinson,” who died on May 9, 2015. Here is what the American Guild of Organists posted on its website: McNeil Robinson 1943-2015 The American Guild of Organists is sad to announce the death of internationally renowned organist and composer McNeil Robinson… Read More In loving memory, McNeil Robinson
Okay, you probably didn’t know that I knew this term from basketball? According to Wikipedia, “A full-court press is a basketball term for a defensive style in which the defense applies man-to-man or zone defense to pressure the offensive team the entire length of the court before and after the inbound pass. Some presses attempt… Read More Full court press!
Today Michael Belt wrote this comment on my post about our fortepiano: My Grandfather passed away this Monday past. I personally watched him build and test a few fortepianos in my time. Truly a talent… We believe that this is the only fortepiano in Honolulu.You may remember from my post, “Our fortepiano is famous (maybe and… Read More Philip Belt, father of the modern fortepiano
Forty years ago, the Lutheran Church of Honolulu sought to revitalize its music program, beginning with the purchase of a mechanical action organ — a tracker organ — altogether unique and unprecedented in Hawaii, in a classic design made by one of the leading master organbuilders, Rudolf von Beckerath of Hamburg, Germany. It turned out to… Read More What is a tracker organ?
Today, Jason Anderson posted James Weaver‘s obituary from the WYDaily.com, the local newspaper from Williamsburg, VA. You may recall from my last post about necrology, that Jim’s name was the last name read Sunday night at Compline, and that his death was sudden and unexpected. You can read the complete obituary by clicking here, but what jumped… Read More Lives touched by others
I guess I had never heard the word “necrology” before (I could not have used the word in a sentence!) until I took a job as a parish administrator in an Episcopal church in 2004. It refers to a list of people who have died. I couldn’t help but think back to the last time I entered… Read More Necrology
Last night’s extraordinary Hallock Tribute concert was absolutely over the top and both Peter Hallock and Carl Crosier would have been over the moon! I would have to consult the thesaurus to describe all the highlights of this concert: exceptional, fantastic, outstanding, and phenomenal barely scratch the surface. I had the immediate sense that this concert took… Read More An extraordinary Hallock Tribute
Last fall, I mentioned that there would be a gathering of Carl Crosier’s relatives and friends in the Northwest sometime in the spring. And that day turned out to be Saturday, May 9th at Chez Hallock, as Peter Hallock’s former home is still called. When Peter was in hospice care, Mel Butler (his successor at… Read More Carl Crosier Fête