Getting your driver’s license … Graduating from high school … Getting married … Having your first child. These are rites of passage, major life events which have been defined as “a ceremony or event marking an important stage in someone’s life, especially birth, puberty, marriage, and death, and marks the transition from one phase of… Read More A rite of passage
One of my students is giving his very first organ recital—Steven Richardson Severin will play on the Sunday after Easter, April 8 at 2:00 pm at Central Union Church. However, he is no novice; he came to me with Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in piano and decided to make the switch to organ. As Karl… Read More Like a duck to water
Several of my organ students have been in the news lately, and I have never been more proud! Oh, they weren’t in the news because of their organ playing—and that’s perfectly okay. But the fact that they also happen to play the organ makes them special in my eyes. Today was the March for our… Read More Never been more proud
You know the story of Cinderella, right? It’s the story of a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances, who gets to dance with the prince at the ball, then loses her glass slipper. If you check Wikipedia, Cinderella can be an analogy which can mean: “one whose attributes were unrecognized, or one who unexpectedly achieves… Read More Cinderella night
Last Saturday I attended the funeral for Neva Rego, where Star of the Sea Church was filled with Neva’s students, friends and family. David Free graciously agreed to share his eulogy with readers of my blog. The song has not ended—the music plays on! The legacy of Neva Rego is alive. It lives on within each… Read More The song has not ended …
If ever the Lutheran Church of Honolulu were to name a poet laureate, hands down it would be Pastor Fritz Fritschel. He was for many years the Assisting Pastor and was known for his use of frog puppets—all with names starting with F—during the children’s sermon. I won’t ever hear the names Felix, Fergus, Franklin,… Read More Our beloved poet laureate
When one steps inside St. Mark’s Cathedral Seattle and attends a worship service, one is immediately struck by the fact that … “this is a sacred and holy space; something mystical and magical happens here.” It is the huge space, the magnificent Flentrop Organ, it is the rolling acoustics that make music so extraordinary in this… Read More Mysticism and the sense of the sacred
So the whole reason that I’m here in Seattle was to attend the dedication of the Compline Window to the Glory of God and to the memory of Peter R. Hallock. It was just then coincidental that the Compline Choir presented a program called Laetare of readings and musical reflections in response to “Sanctuary,” a… Read More Laetare
It was again another gorgeous day in Seattle—the sky is blue and clear, no rain and it’s cool, in the lower 60s F. When I walked into St. Mark’s, the choir was rehearsing the Kyrie in a mass setting by Uģis Prauliņš (b. 1957), a Latvian composer who “is noted for his powerful and idiosyncratic… Read More Outside the bounds of time
It was an absolutely gorgeous day in Seattle—clear blue skies and no rain. I’m staying at the Bacon Mansion, an elegant bed-and-breakfast in a historic Edwardian-style Tudor home with 11 individually-appointed guest rooms. The 1909 home built by Cecil Bacon features a chandelier with 3,000 crystals, marble fireplaces and a treasured library. The continental breakfast… Read More Beautiful Seattle