Today’s plenary session address was given by Elizabeth Drescher, a writer, educator and public speaker who has done an intensive study on people who classify their religious affiliation as “None.” She is the author of Tweet if you (Heart) Jesus: Practicing Church in the Digital Reformation and Click 2 Save: The Digital Ministry Bible. She is currently working on a… Read More The fastest growing religious group: The Nones
Today was our first full day at the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians conference in Valparaiso, IN and it began with a Morning Prayer service in which several of the opening hymns were taught in song leader style, with no sheet music or words to read, just listen and repeat. I found the opening dialog… Read More Worship in a Wireless World
It’s been “Old Home Week” at Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN, considered by many Lutherans to be their “Mecca,” where we are attending the Biennial Conference of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians. It’s only the first day, and we have reconnected with many of our Lutheran colleagues from all over the country. I was especially… Read More Mecca for Lutherans
I just heard from former organ student Joey Fala, and am super-proud to announce that he took second place in the Region I and II Regional Competition for Young Organists! Although he was a teeny bit disappointed that he didn’t place first, I think it is remarkable that he went up against students from Juilliard,… Read More Update on Joey Fala
We are now flying to Chicago, on our way to Valparaiso, IN where we will attend the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians Biennial Conference. Carl and I have been members of this organization since 1987 when they held their first national conference in Seattle. We were privileged to be presenters at that conference, where we… Read More On to the next!
I happened to be sitting next to Hyunju Hwang, the virtuoso Korean organist, at the post-convention recital by Dorothy Young Riess, and when I told her Dorothy was 81, she said, “No! She looks like she’s maybe 60!” Dorothy played a most ambitious program at Olive Drive Church, another mega-church complex here in Bakersfield, and… Read More My favorite things
“Teaching Little Fingers to Play the Organ” was the topic of my workshop this afternoon here at the Bakersfield AGO convention and I just about had heart failure! I brought my iPad (really, Carl’s!) all the cables I thought I needed, and an Apple TV so that I could show my Keynote presentation wirelessly. Alas,… Read More Teaching little fingers to play the organ
Today was workshop day at the Region IX Convention of the American Guild of Organists in Bakersfield. One of the workshops I was most anxious to hear was one titled “Performing in the Golden Years: Just Survive or Really Thrive?” It was given by Dorothy Young Riess, who is now in her 82nd year on… Read More Age is no big deal
I wanted to tell you about the incredible St. John’s Lutheran Church campus here in Bakersfield, CA where we attended a hymn festival by S. Wayne Foster, the Ken Medema presentation and Hyunju Hwang’s organ recital. The church is affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the multiple buildings on this 34-acre campus are only… Read More St. John’s Lutheran, Bakersfield
This afternoon I attended perhaps the most powerful presentation I ever seen or heard in my life. The artist was Ken Medema, a blind pianist who for four decades, has inspired people through storytelling and music. He said that we as church musicians have the task of connecting the stories with the music. He played a… Read More The power of music