Here’s another endorsement for the Monteverdi Vespers from Hawaii Public Radio’s Judy Neale: Congratulations to Early Music Hawaii and the Lutheran Church of Honolulu for a phenomenal performance of the Monteverdi Vespers at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa last night (and now I even know what a co-cathedral is!). Carl Crosier and his cohorts have… Read More More Monteverdi
At last night’s historic performance of the Monteverdi Vespers, about five minutes before we were to begin, a worried Carl Crosier came over to me at the organ and asked, “Do you know what’s going on? The bridge on Richard Savino’s theorbo has fallen off because of the humidity!” It was a rainy and humid… Read More Broken theorbo!
Last night was the last dress rehearsal before tonight’s Monteverdi Vespers performance at St. Theresa’s Co-Cathedral. It was the first time we went straight through the work, stopping after No. 10 Lauda Jerusalem,where in the concert there will be a 20-minute intermission. The first half lasts nearly an hour, but the second half is shorter, about… Read More Monteverdi Dress Rehearsal
You’ve probably noticed that in our publicity for the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610 that we’ve called The Whole Noyse a “period brass ensemble.” And in our season brochure, we said that our upcoming Bach Mass in B Minor would be the first historically-informed performance of the work in Hawaii. First of all, the use of… Read More Period Instruments on TV!
Tonight is our first full rehearsal with “The Company” for the upcoming Monteverdi Vespers of 1610. Up to now, we have just held rehearsals with the seven vocal soloists — one rehearsal was just the basses (Nicholas Walters and Keane Ishii); another rehearsal was just the sopranos (Georgine Stark and Mihoko Ito). In… Read More We are in Rehearsal!
The time slots for the Monteverdi segments on HawaiiNewsNow’s Sunrise program tomorrow (November 4th) have changed. At 7:15 am, Richard Savino, theorbo player, will perform and at 8:50 am, The Whole Noyse (period brass ensemble) will play. If you can’t get near a television at that time, the two segments will be archived on the HawaiiNewsNow… Read More Sunrise HawaiiNewsNow Update
“Pulling out all the stops” — isn’t it great that an organ term is in the mainstream? It means to make every effort, and we have certainly tried to use every avenue to “get the word out” about this monumental undertaking. In mid-September we published and distributed our season brochure, and the day after our… Read More Pulling out all the stops for Monteverdi
In one of my earliest posts, I talked about our friendship with composer Peter R. Hallock going way, way back, and how, in 1986, we formed a company called Ionian Arts. The first (and biggest) project was the publication of the Ionian Psalter, a collection of 212 psalm settings for choir, organ and congregation which… Read More The Ionian Psalter
This Sunday, October 31st, is Reformation Day and it’s always a big deal in the Lutheran Church. This year, let’s just say that the music at the 10:30 service might be different from what you’d expect! I don’t know if I could even put a label on it—some people might call it “avant-garde;” certainly it’s… Read More Reformation Day 2010
If you’ve seen any of our publicity for the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610, you’ll notice that we list Richard Savino as the theorbo player, and you’re probably wondering, what the heck is a theorbo? A theorbo is a bass lute (forerunner of the guitar) and is visually striking because of its long neck. (I’m wondering… Read More What is a theorbo?