Yesterday was a first for me—playing two recitals in one day and prepping for one only an hour before! The morning started out leisurely, and I was able to indulge in my usual concert prep practice of studying the score away from the keyboard. I was especially paying attention to stop and manual changes in… Read More Two down, one to go
Today was both a treat and a privilege. Joan Ishibashi and I were given a special tour of the Norton organ at Severance Hall, led by curator Todd Wilson. The tour was all made possible by Joan’s two violinist friends in the Cleveland Orchestra, Sae Shiragami and Takako Masame, who joined us on the tour.… Read More The Norton organ at Severance Hall
This morning was devoted to organ practice on the Beckerath organ at Trinity Lutheran Church which was built in 1956. From the church’s website: Trinity’s Beckerath was built in 1956 in Hamburg, Germany by Rudolph von Beckerath, who crafted it in the tradition of the organs of northern Europe in the Baroque era. This organ is… Read More Organist training wheels!
This afternoon was the whole reason I came to Cleveland—and that was to hear the baroque orchestra Apollo’s Fire in person. It was absolutely glorious! Right away, Joan Ishibashi introduced me to Noha Ryder, General Manager and Director of Development of Apollo’s Fire. Little did I know that Joan had sent her the link to… Read More Echoes of Venice
Superman was created in Cleveland! Getting to Cleveland was uneventful, after an unexpected tumble in a restaurant the night before when I reached over to retrieve my purse from across the table and fell into my grandson’s high chair. My first thought as I was falling was, “oh no! I have to play three concerts… Read More Welcome to Cleveland!
I have been spending a few days with my family in California and you’ll never guess who else is here? It’s Joan Ishibashi, my “London agent” (!) who is here in California visiting her family. Joan has finalized all the arrangements regarding our Cleveland trip, and just today sent me the information on the Berghaus… Read More Guess who?
In the last two days, I have been on four separate airplane flights. Yesterday I flew to Lihue, Kaua’i and back for my biweekly organ lesson with Hank Curtis; and today I flew to Burbank via San Francisco to spend a few days with my family before joining Joan Ishibashi in Cleveland. It seems I… Read More Trinity, Trinity, Trinity!
Last night I was at the inaugural concert of the Chamber Concert series at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu—and one of the most important aspects of this new concert series are the refreshments offered at 6:30 pm before the concert begins. This was a great opportunity to visit with long-time friends and parishioners in the… Read More First Monday concerts debut
From 1974 to 1977, I was the organist and accompanist for the choirs at the all-girls Episcopal school, St. Andrew’s Priory, and worked under Wanda Gereben, the choral teacher. But I not only played the piano and organ—I also sewed costumes for the spring musical one year. When I left the Priory in 1977, I… Read More Returning to “my mother”
I LOVED IT! SUPER COOL! It was like Legos. I liked putting it together because we used teamwork to put it together. We all did something together. I liked the pumping the best! These were the uncensored, honest-to-goodness reactions to Orgelkids, the pipe organ kit which Miki Yamamoto and I took to Waimanalo Elementary and… Read More I LOVED IT! Super cool!