Over the weekend, there was an article published by the Kansas City Star which has been widely shared among organists: “Pipe organs soar, but number of players dips.” According to the article, the number of college organ students is shrinking, despite the number of new instrument installations. It cites the multi-million dollar University of Kansas organ… Read More Endangered species
wun·der·kind (vndr-knd, wn-) n. pl. wun·der·kin·der (-kndr) 1. A child prodigy. 2. A person of remarkable talent or ability who achieves great success or acclaim at an early age. [German : Wunder, wonder, prodigy (from Middle High German, from Old High German wuntar) A wunderkind is coming to Honolulu in the person of Nathan Laube, concert… Read More Wunderkind
During Lent, many people give up small luxuries such as chocolate or desserts as a form of penitence. The 40 days before Easter are supposed to be spent in prayer or fasting. Well, I have my own way of penitence — getting up every morning to practice the organ, specifically the Great Eighteen Chorales (also… Read More Lenten discipline
I realize that when I wrote the last post, I didn’t clarify some of the details about the continuo organ at LCH at the first service I ever played here. It was the OTHER continuo organ, also called a positiv or positive, which the church purchased as an interim instrument when they decided to replace… Read More The Beckerath positiv organ
Bill Potter, the LCH webmaster, recently posted a tribute to me and my tenure as organist. If you haven’t found it already, here are the links describing Carl’s and my many years at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu: Carl Crosier, Cantor, 1972-2011 Katherine Crosier, Organist, 1978-2012 You will read that Carl was originally hired as… Read More Tributes
To think of Lent only as a time of penance is to do it an injustice. While the traditional practice of “doing something” for Lent is praiseworthy, there is much more to this wonderful season than just additional practices of piety or acts of penance and mortification. In Lent the Church calls us to metanoia. As… Read More Lenten transformation
As you may recall from a previous post, I am practicing and being totally consumed by the Great Eighteen chorales of Bach, BWV 651-668. It was my need to “get myself a project” now that I am down to three jobs (from four, formerly). It’s been about a month now, and I have decided… Read More The teacher as student
Last Saturday, while we were sitting at breakfast, I got a phone call. “Kathy, I know this is last-minute, but can you play for me tomorrow?” It was Grant Mack, organist of St. Theresa’s Co-Cathedral. You may remember that it was over two years ago that we performed the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610 in this… Read More My first substituting gig
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnOPu0_YWhw?rel=0] Perhaps you have heard or read about Bach and the subway experiment, but in case you haven’t, here is a version which is widely distributed by email: A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach… Read More The subway experiment
You probably remember from a previous post that I’m focused on Bach right now. I am trying to learn the complete Great Eighteen chorales, also called the Leipzig Chorales (even though some scholars speculate some of the pieces may have been written when Bach was in Weimar.) And whenever I’m learning a new piece, I… Read More Earworm Bach