I went to the Vivaldi Four Seasons concert last night as part of the First Mondays Concerts at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, and the work absolutely sizzled under violinist Darel Stark, who played from memory and held us on the edge of our seats with breathless tempos and a stunning display of virtuosity and… Read More Stunningly sizzling!
A couple of days ago, I was scrolling through Facebook and I saw it was the birthday of my friend from Paris, Bill F. McCoy. I promptly clicked the link to wish him a happy birthday, and was shocked to see the headline “A Celebration of the Life of William Franklin McCoy,” meaning that he… Read More Remembering Paris days
There’s a new schedule out for services at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church — instead of Vespers and Benediction on Wednesday nights at 6:00 pm, now there’s Vespers at 5:30 pm and a Latin Mass at 6:00 pm. I’m not needed to play Vespers since it’s all sung unaccompanied, but last night was my first time… Read More The Latin Mass
When I used to work in a CPA office, the one thing we could never escape was deadlines— that is, deadlines to file taxes, deadlines to pay estimated taxes, deadlines for payroll, etc. — the deadlines never stopped. No sooner would you file taxes for yourself or for a client, and you’d be faced with… Read More Deadline: Iceland!
You didn’t know that Cleveland was in Hawaii? It was Douglas Cleveland, concert organist, at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, who played a colorful program last night: Praeludium in G major (Nikolaus Bruhns) Vater unser im Himmelreich (Georg Böhm)Prelude and Fugue in E-flat, BWV 552 (J.S. Bach)Tierce en taille—Homage to Louis Couperin (David Dahl)Transformations (Jessica… Read More Cleveland in Hawaii
An organ transplant is a surgical procedure that replaces a damaged or failing organ with a healthy organ from a donor. The goal of an organ transplant is to save the life of the recipient. In this case, it was to save the organ music at Nuuanu Congregational Church when the Rodgers organ began the process of… Read More Organ transplant!
Saturday’s concert by organ students has come and gone and it was a learning experience for both students and teacher alike! What I mean is that there were unexpected bumps in the road, and at other times, some exquisite moments. What was so great was hearing the wide range of experience in organ playing, from… Read More Another learning experience!
I am continually telling my organ students that when we play hymns, we are the ones taking charge … we are the leader. So it’s important to have a forward motion, like “pretending you are the Crucifer,” I sometimes say. We are the ones who lead the parade. That was absolutely impossible for me this… Read More Just above a whisper
As soon as the Christmas Day High Mass was over at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church (about 12:35 pm), I raced home where I already had my suitcase packed and ready to go. My friend, Cindy Scheinert, picked me up and we headed for the airport, where I had a flight scheduled with a 2:20 boarding… Read More Out with the old!
At this time of year, you’ll hear a lot of chatter among organists and other church musicians about waiting with baited breath for “The Chord,” and everyone knows what you’re talking about! I wait for this chord all year, and even though I know it’s coming, when I sing my note and hear the chord underneath,… Read More “The Chord”