From 1993 to 2009 we would always get a card from England about this time of the year. Even though it would come every year, somehow it was always a delightful surprise, probably because we are always so embroiled in Holy Week and Easter rehearsals and services. The card was an Easter card from Morag… Read More The kindness of a stranger
All season, Carl Crosier has maintained a mental list: The Last Reformation Day — Check! The Last Advent Procession — Check! The Last Christmas Eve — Check! The Last Christmas Day — Check! The Last German Vespers — Check! The Last Joint Evensong — Check! And now we have come to Holy Week and Easter, Carl’s last as Cantor of the… Read More The List of Lasts
It’s the week before Holy Week, and Allen Bauchle and I always look at each other, and ask the question, “Well, what are we going to play this year?” He and I have performed together on trumpet and organ every Easter Sunday for the last twenty years. It was over 20 years ago that Carl… Read More Allen Bauchle, Assistant Choirmaster
In the last few days, the buzz in the local media has been full of stories about the Symphony Exploratory Committee — a group of business professionals dedicated to the belief that having symphonic music in Hawaii is critical to its artistic and economic vitality. Just yesterday, it was announced that the SEC has… Read More Bach Chamber Orchestra
This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday (Sunday of the Passion), and the service begins outside in the courtyard. The choir will sing a setting of “Hosanna to the son of David,” (this year by Hutchings) and I’m always amazed at how resonant they sound outdoors. Then the whole congregation will walk around the outside of… Read More Palm Sunday Parade
Tomorrow, April 12th at 10:00 am, host Gene Schiller will have two guests in the studio: Ian Capps, host of Hawaii Public Radio’s The Early Muse, and Carl Crosier, cantor of the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, during HPR’s semi-annual fund drive. You’ll hear Carl and Ian pitching LCH’s upcoming performance of Bach’s Mass in B Minor, and they… Read More LCH and Public Radio
I can hardly believe that tomorrow is the last Sunday in Lent and next week is already Palm Sunday! During the Sundays in Lent, instead of an opening hymn accompanied by the organ, we have been using processional introits based on Gregorian melodies, interspersed with handbell peals written by Carl Crosier. LCH’s five octaves of… Read More Petit and Fritsen handbells
Carl is starting to clean out his office and came across an old letter. It was written by Lois Pemble of Winchester, Kentucky and dated December 23, 2003, a year after the Lutheran Church of Honolulu had purchased the harpsichord made by her brother, Floyd Cammack. In the letter she enclosed a note by Robbie… Read More The Cammack harpsichord
This Sunday, April 10th, the LCH Choir will be singing “Out of the deep” by English Renaissance composer, Thomas Morley (1557-1602) which will feature Carl Crosier singing an extended countertenor solo. A countertenor is a man who uses his head voice (falsetto) to sing notes in the alto range. Some men are natural baritones while… Read More The art of the countertenor
We bought a new computer last week — but for anyone who has gone through this “process,” you know that we’re in a period of transition. It’s a little like moving — first of all there’s all the sorting — determining what you don’t need anymore. Then there’s the packing into boxes, then the actual… Read More Moving right along