If you have been reading this blog for some years now, you may know that the Hawaii Chapter of the American Guild of Organists sponsors a yearly organ recital by rising stars in the organ world. Earlier in the year (pre-COVID), we brought Monica Czausz to Hawaii and as to the history of this program,… Read More Death of a rising star
Summer has traditionally been a time of respite for church musicians from the busyness of services, rehearsals and concerts—and for many years my husband and I traveled to conventions and conferences of the American Guild of Organists and the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians. At these conventions, we would hear world-class performances by organists and… Read More Beauty in the midst of chaos
When I first heard the term “flunking retirement,” I thought it was a phrase made up by Betsy McCreary to describe her husband, the late (and great!) organist-choirmaster of St. Andrew’s Cathedral and my predecessor as Chapel Organist at Iolani School, John McCreary. That is because after a long and illustrious career at St. Andrew’s… Read More Flunking retirement
If you can believe this, the photo of me above was taken while I was playing for the Baccalaureate Service for the Class of 2020 of St. Andrew’s Priory! Shocking, isn’t it! Look at the way, I’m dressed! I properly have my mask on, but I’m wearing a T-shirt and shorts! A complete faux pas,… Read More Virtual Baccalaureate
I have recently auditioned all top tier grand pianos under 6’3″, and in fact Steinway and Estonia are my final two shortlisted. From budget perspective, Estonia is about 1/2 of the price of Steinway, making Estonia extremely competitive. From sound perspective, both Steinway (New York) and Estonia are among the top pianos. In my opinion,… Read More The making of an Estonia piano
If you haven’t been in the nave of the Lutheran Church of Honolulu lately (and who has, since in-person worship services ended mid-March of this year), you might not know that there are now two grand pianos in the nave. One grand piano, a 9′ Steinway, has been there for many years and is on… Read More The story of the Estonia piano
I forgot to include the video of Jane Parker-Smith and Maurice André which was posted with the notice of her sudden death. I think hearing this while I was reading her obituary made it all the more tragic, so I include it here. Now go back and re-read my post “Sudden death.” You may recall… Read More Albinoni, “Adagio in G minor”
We all know that death and taxes are inevitable, but when we hear of the sudden deaths of celebrities or of people we know, it seems all the more shocking. This morning when I checked my Facebook notifications, I was taken aback by the news of organist Jane Parker-Smith. From her website, her bio reads:… Read More Sudden death
There was a time when the initials WMD meant “Weapons of Mass Destruction.” Those three initials were in the minds of those who lived during the Gulf War with Iraq, March 20, 2003 – December 18, 2011. The United States was at war because officials believed Saddam Hussein was developing Weapons of Mass Destruction or… Read More WMD
When I was in college, I had “socially distant” organ lessons with my teacher, although of course, that term was completely unknown in 1968. It was at the University of Southern California in the “prehistoric” days when my lessons took place in Bovard Auditorium and the organ console was down in front of the stage.… Read More Socially distant organ lessons