Can you believe it’s been almost two years since we celebrated Claudio Monteverdi’s 400th anniversary with two ground-breaking performances of his Vespers of 1610? Now we will celebrate the music of Giovanni Gabrieli (1554-1612), and this time it’s the 400th anniversary of his death. Over the past couple of weeks, Carl Crosier has been hard at… Read More Glorious Gabrieli
Last Thursday night, it was announced that long-time choir librarian, Jerome Vasconcellos, would be retiring after more than 20 years of service and volunteers to fill the position would be much welcomed. So it was with a great deal of relief that Andrew McCaffrey has stepped up to the plate and will become the new librarian.… Read More Changing of the guard
Over the years, many LCH children have been involved in the Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus to further their music education. Naomi Castro, Karyn Castro, Marisa Castello, Elizabeth Pearson, and Joseph Pearson are some of the names which come to mind. Hilary Scherer (whose mom, Ulrike Scherer, sings alto in the LCH Choir) was also an… Read More Music education through performance
This Sunday, my organ voluntaries (prelude, communion and postlude) will feature works by Paul Hindemith (1895-1963), one of Germany’s most important composers in the early part of the 20th century. Yet his output for the organ was minuscule compared to the total of his musical compositions. I’ll be playing one movement from each of his… Read More Three from Hindemith
Since my last post, I have received an outpouring of support and thanks, for which I am most encouraged and grateful. When I read the letter to the choir on Thursday night, I told them that I always had dreams that I would die at the organ, but I guess that is not going to… Read More Death at the organ
The following letter is being distributed to the parishioners of the Lutheran Church of Honolulu. Dear people of LCH: It was 37 years ago that I was first contracted by Carl Crosier to play the organ for Bach Cantata 67 on May 4, 1975 at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu. Although I was not officially… Read More A new chapter
Chances are, you probably haven’t heard of organist Carlos Curley, who died this past week. Tributes are pouring in from all over, and one included a video link in which Carlo explained how he became an organist. I think you’ll enjoy it. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1R9hKb5awA?rel=0] Just a reminder, that there are scholarships available from the local… Read More Becoming an organist
We recently received word that Richard Knobel died on July 15th, and although many of you may not have known him, he did come to LCH frequently. When I knew him, he worked for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, and invited us several times to his beach house in Haleiwa. For several years, he and Carl… Read More Requiescat in pace
In May, there was a very interesting blog post by Fr. Robert Hendrickson in the Episcopal Church, about the possibilities of a new hymnal in their denomination. His post is called “Don’t Do It for the Kids: Of Hymnal Revision and Young Adults” and I highly recommend that you read it, as well as the… Read More Don’t do it for the kids
If you are a reader of the Star-Advertiser newspaper, you may have seen my photo of Jordan McCreary in last Saturday’s edition. Yes, it’s time for the 23rd Annual Midsummer Night’s Organ Concert at Central Union Church, next Sunday, August 19th at 4 pm. The concert is a benefit for the scholarship programs of the… Read More Midsummer Night’s Organ Concert