I am soooo sorry that we English speakers have such inadequate words to express ourselves! Maybe it would be better if I said it in Spanish instead! ¡GUAU GUAU GUAU! This afternoon was Caroline Robinson’s organ concert at Central Union Church and right off the bat she opened with a stunning performance of Anne Wilson’s… Read More Caroline. WOW WOW WOW!
This was the text message I received last night from Shane Morris Wise after Caroline Robinson‘s organ concert at All Saints Episcopal Church in Kapa‘a, Kaua‘i. Caroline is here in Hawaii as the recitalist for the Hawaii Chapter American Guild of Organists Annual Organ Concerts, a series which was started in 2006 with the concert… Read More Caroline. WOW!
The encore is a piece that is added to the performance that is usually not listed in the printed program, and is dependent upon sufficient applause and positive reaction from the audience. Artists usually plan what they’re going to play for an encore—usually a short piece to send the audience on its way. When I… Read More The encore
Tonight the people of Honolulu celebrated the 10th anniversary of the passing of John McCreary with a special memorial Evensong. A publicity flyer described him like this: John McCreary was a musical force of nature. During his five decades in Hawai‘i, he served as Organist/Choirmaster and Canon Emeritus at St. Andrew’s Cathedral, taught music at ‘Iolani School… Read More Rubber Ducky Evensong?
The fact that we essentially lost three years off our lifetimes due to the pandemic really hit home today. I had a lesson with a long-time student of mine whose last lesson was March 23, 2020. Because of his advanced age, and the risks of the coronavirus, we had postponed any lessons past this date… Read More Diligence
Sweet melancholy. That’s how I would describe last night’s Early Music Hawaii concert by Les Voix Humaines Consort of Viols whose program featured John Dowland’s “Lachrimae.” They were in Hawaii after finishing a series of concerts in Japan, and would Early Music Hawaii host them for a series of concerts here? They gave a concert… Read More Sweet melancholy
If you are an organist, you’ve probably run across an organ stop called “Vox Humana,” which in Latin means “human voice.” According to Wikipedia, “The Vox humana is a short-resonator reed stop on the pipe organ, so named because of its supposed resemblance to the human voice. As a rule, the stop is used with… Read More Les Voix Humaines
This morning I was at my old stomping grounds, Iolani School, where I was the Chapel Organist for 20 years, and played for daily chapel services. Since I retired in 2015, the school has gotten so big (in enrollment as well as in number of buildings on campus), that it’s no longer possible to have… Read More They clapped!
It’s not often that there are organ recitals in Hawaii. The Hawaii Chapter of the American Guild of Organists sponsors one recitalist per year, and that person plays a concert in Honolulu and another concert on a neighbor island. But this week, there will be TWO organ recitals on Oahu! Tomorrow night, the new organist… Read More Organ concerts galore
Tomorrow at the Sunday service at Nuuanu Congregational Church, I’ll be playing a hymn I’ve never heard of before … and you’ll never guess what the tune name is? It’s KATHERINE. For some reason, the church always puts my name next to the hymn name, so this is how it’s listed in the bulletin: Weird,… Read More Katherine