One of the projects I’m currently working on is a presentation for the next regional convention of the American Guild of Organists, June 24-26 in Bakersfield, CA. If you want to check out their website, click here. One sentence on their home page gave me a ray of hope: There are many outstanding organs in our… Read More Is it over?
This week we are hosting Jason Anderson, director of the Compline Choir of St. Mark’s Cathedral — Peter Hallock’s hand-picked successor to the men’s choir he founded over 50 years ago in Seattle, WA. A native of Indiana, Jason first sang Peter Hallock’s music at Trinity Church in Indianapolis, IN and later moved to Portland,… Read More Jason Anderson, Compline Choir director
I’ve been reading a fascinating book lately, titled “The Dynamic Studio: How to keep students, dazzle parents and build the music studio everyone wants to get into” by Philip Johnston. Right from the start, the book caught my interest because Johnston says that today’s music students are different from those 50 years ago yet teaching… Read More Practicing at my desk
Lately I’ve become a fan of the BBC television show, Fake or Fortune? in which two journalists try to prove a piece of artwork by a famous artist is fake or genuine. So I was reminded of that series when I heard about the violin brought by our houseguest, Lisa Grodin from Berkeley, CA. She… Read More Fortune, not fake!
“I need a project!” I told my husband, Carl, a couple of weeks ago. We were reminiscing about an all-Bach concert he and I played in 1979 in which between the two of us, we performed Bach’s Clavierübung III, the so-called “German Organ Mass,” a collection of 21 chorale preludes, bookended by the Prelude and Fugue in… Read More Back to practicing Bach
No, I’m not talking about music from the past such as Bach and Mendelssohn — I’m referring to the actual sheet music from the past. On Saturday the LCH choir began rehearsals on Handel’s Israel in Egypt which is scheduled for February 16th at St. Andrew’s Cathedral. The musical scores they are using looked ancient and… Read More Music from the past
On Monday, January 21st at 5 pm, at St. Andrew’s Cathedral, soprano Georgine Stark will be giving a free concert of spirituals in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Here’s the program: Give me, Jesus (arr. Moses Hogan) Let us break bread together (arr. Moses Hogan) Deep river (arr. Moses Hogan) Walk together, children (arr. Moses Hogan)… Read More Hogan’s spirituals
I thought I’d share this promotional video from our friend, Dana Marsh, who is the Director of Music at Christ Church Cathedral, Indianapolis: [vimeo http://vimeo.com/54457295] He says “We see young people ‘come alive’ — with a love of music, with discipline, with talent — in our choirs.” You may recall from previous posts that Dana… Read More Coming alive with music
cipher, cypher [ˈsaɪfə] (Music / Instruments) A defect in an organ resulting in the continuous sounding of a pipe, the key of which has not been depressed Yikes! When I came to teach an organ lesson on the Beckerath both last week and this, we were plagued with ciphers on at least six different notes.… Read More Uh-oh: Organ ciphers!
Just yesterday, my husband, Carl, told me to get the guest room ready for another houseguest. This time we will be hosting a member of El Mundo, an early music ensemble which will be giving a concert at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu on January 26th at 7:30 pm. “The Kingdoms of Castile,” featuring Baroque… Read More The kingdoms of Castile