We didn’t get home last night until 11 pm from transforming the church into a concert hall, so it was pretty hard getting up this morning at our usual 5 am. We had to make one more airport run to pick up bass David Newman, who flew in from Washington, DC. Carl has contracted David… Read More David Newman and the first orchestra rehearsal
On Sunday after the 10:30 am service, we began the transformation of the church into a concert hall. The first step was to bring the extra platforms down from over the Board Room, and to move the continuo organ off the elevated floor. Yes, that means I will not be playing the big organ and… Read More Bach Week begins
Our historic performances of Bach’s Mass in B Minor are only a week away, and I thought I’d give you some instructions and explain our personalized system of ticketing. First of all, I would like to encourage everyone to arrive early so that you’re not looking for parking at the last moment. We are asking… Read More Your program is your ticket
I found an interesting article today, on the health benefits of singing in a choir. The article was written by a health educator and a music professor, and is called “Choral Singing Beneficial for Body and Soul.” It was published by the England’s Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health. “Singers reported… Read More Music IS medicine
“You guys need a break from Bach!” our friends Michael Kleinschmidt and Marc Aubertin said to us last night while having dinner at our condo. Carl thinks he first met Michael while he was the assistant organist to Gerre Hancock at St. Thomas on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Michael then moved to Boston,… Read More A break from Bach
Carl asked this question of the choristers after tonight’s rehearsal. “Are you ready to meet the orchestra next week?” Everyone shook their heads together, “NOOOO!” What was scheduled to be the last choral rehearsal before meeting the orchestra on Monday is going to turn out to be the “next to the last” rehearsal. We will… Read More “Are you ready?”
It’s less than two weeks until LCH’s upcoming performances of Bach’s “Mass in B Minor,” May 13 and 14, 7:30 pm. Here is a status report on what’s happening around the LCH campus: 1. The choir will resume rehearsals tomorrow night after having a “break” for Holy Week and Easter. We’ll see if everyone remembers… Read More The countdown begins!
I subscribe to an electronic mailing list about pipe organs, and of course, music for the Royal Wedding did not escape notice. Earlier I gave you a link for all the music that was performed for Prince William and Kate Middleton, which included a lot of music which did not get television coverage. (Yes, I… Read More Weddings, royal and otherwise
If your household is like ours, you’ve watched a lot of the TV coverage on the upcoming Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. This morning, we were very excited to receive, by email, the complete list of all the music which will be performed for the wedding at Westminster Abbey. It means that… Read More Music for the Royal Wedding
When we presented Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in the year 2000, I wrote a series of articles for the church newsletter. One of them was titled “Bach the numerologist” and asked whether it was merely coincidence or intentional that Bach wrote music which had numerological significance. For example, the phrase “Lord, is it I” was… Read More Bach the numerologist