Hans-Ulrich Erbslöh, who first came to Hawaii nearly 50 years ago to install the Beckerath organ, is back in town, along with his assistant, Bernd Becker, to service the two organs in the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, in addition to the J. W. Walker organ at St. Christopher’s Kailua; the Beckerath organ at Holy Innocents,… Read More The German organbuilders are here!
Seventy four years ago, on June 2, 1953, a 27-year-old Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was crowned Queen Elizabeth II in an almost 3-hour ceremony, which was preceded by a 5-mile long procession. 8,251 people attended the service at Westminster Abbey, and the coronation was the first to be televised. Elizabeth’s coronation was also the second… Read More Music for a Coronation
It’s been a week since I returned home from South America, and after a horrible week of trying to adjust back to this time zone (there’s a difference of 7 hours between Argentina and Hawaii), I’ve now jumped right in and immersed myself in the music for the next Early Music Hawaii concert, “William Byrd:… Read More Immersed in Byrd
I’m jetlagged, but I’m hitting the ground running! I walked in the door of my condo about 2:30 pm on Friday, having left Buenos Aires on a 9:00 pm flight on Thursday. The flight to Houston was 10 hours long, with a 4 hour layover, then it was another 8 hours to Honolulu. That means… Read More Jetlagged, but …
Last night we had to say adios to Barbi, our generous, funny, kind, and patient Spanish teacher as she returns to Bahia Blanca this morning. Many hugs and kisses later, I’m reflecting on our experience here in South America as part of my language learning process. Our days were filled with many mini-Spanish lessons as… Read More Non-stop Spanish lesson
Last night we were back at Teatro Colón, this time for a performance of Swan Lake (El Lago de los Cisnos) by Piotr Ilich Tschaikovsky, the Ballet Estable del Teatro Colón, directed by Mario Galizza, and the Orquesta Estable del Teatro Colón directed by Carlos Calleja. It was an excellent production all around, the music,… Read More Swan Lake and more
When I was planning this trip to South America, I made arrangements in advance to see the organs in Montevideo and the Buenos Aires Cathedral, but I certainly didn’t expect to find early music. When we toured the Teatro Colón, however, I saw a poster for the Gabetta Consort, which I suspected was an early… Read More Over-the-top early music!
Today we visited the Catedral Metropolitana of Buenos Aires … surely a unique experience for my companions, especially for our Spanish teacher, Barbi and her mom, who had never been in the Cathedral, much less in the organ loft. We were fortunate to meet Enrique Rimoldi, the organist, who invited us into the organ loft… Read More A unique experience
Our Spanish teacher, Nacho, came to our hotel this morning to have breakfast with us and to say goodbye before we took the Buquebus to Buenos Aires. The Buquebus is something we read about in our class, in the novel La Uruguaya, a very fast ferry between Uruguay and Argentina. Even though it takes about… Read More Buquebus to Buenos Aires
Back on December 10, 2022, I did a Google search: “Uruguay organists” and the name Cristina Garcia Banegas popped up. I recognized her name from previous American Guild of Organists conventions and luckily found her on Facebook. I knew I was taking a chance, but I contacted her through Facebook Messenger, and was so surprised… Read More Una nueva amiga (A new friend!)