“I wouldn’t do this for anyone except Kristian Bezuidenhout,” Carl said last night, when it was announced that our favorite performer on the fortepiano would be playing the late-night concert beginning at 11 pm. Paul O’Dette, the Boston Early Music Festival Co-Artistic Director, announced at the beginning of the concert that he was sitting at… Read More Another great artist
Last night we heard a concert of John Dowland songs, all by the great Dame Emma Kirkby, and it will go down in the annals of concerts we will never forget. This was our third time to hear her in person — the first time was in England, at the Stour Festival in Wye, where… Read More A great artist
Last night’s concert at Jordan Hall had some of the most extraordinary music-making we have ever heard. The hype was that Mozart’s actual violin and viola were used in the performance, but the artists who made music on them were especially expressive and sensitive, making for a magical evening. They included Amandine Beyer, violin; Milos… Read More Extraordinary music-making
One of the best things about going to an event like the Boston Early Music Festival, is seeing and reacquainting oneself with people you know, colleagues, friends and students. We are staying, as we do whenever we come to Boston, with retired choirmaster and organist Edith Ho from the Church of the Advent, in… Read More Joyful reunions
“At this pace, we won’t get to church until NEXT WEEK!” our driver said as we were sitting on the Mass turnpike. On Sunday we were picked up at 10:10 am — in plenty of time, we thought, for the 11:15 High Mass at the Church of the Advent in downtown Boston. But we found… Read More Get me to the church on time!
Today I watched a YouTube video shared by Manuel Rosales, the builder of the magnificent Trinity Cathedral organ in Portland, OR where John Strege was formerly the organist/choirmaster and Michael Kleinschmidt is there now. Someone had commented on Manuel’s FaceBook page that this is where the world-class Catharine Crozier had played — except that he had… Read More The grande dame of the organ
In a couple of days, we’ll be heading for Boston where we will be attending the Boston Early Music Festival (BEMF), which for us is the Boston Marathon! This is the premier festival for early music junkies (like ourselves), which The Times of London calls “the world’s leading festival of early music.” The New York Times… Read More The Boston Marathon
Like hundreds of other people, last Friday night we were at St. Theresa’s Co-Cathedral attending a performance of the Verdi Requiem by the Hawaii Vocal Arts Ensemble, Masterworks Festival Chorus, and members of the Hawaii Symphony. I couldn’t help but think that it was due to our ground-breaking performances of the Monteverdi Vespers that St. Theresa’s was… Read More The church as a concert venue
Years and years ago, I took Gregg shorthand. It’s a system of stenography which uses loops and straight lines to represent words for taking dictation. Since the advent of machine stenography, and the almost universal use of personal computers by business executives, Gregg shorthand seems antiquated and unnecessary. And what about Siri and other apps… Read More Musical dictation
A few days ago, we held the annual meeting of the Hawaii Chapter American Guild of Organists (AGO) at our condo, and for various reasons, the attendance was about half of what it was a year ago. One of our members, Winfred Hancock, told me that he wasn’t able to come, but at age 93,… Read More Dwindling ranks