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!)
We often joke about living in the Marble Palace because all the floors in my condo are marble, but today we saw a REAL marble palace, the Legislative Palace of Uruguay, a Greco-Roman eclecticist style building, whose facades, interior walls, vaults and columns are covered with different marbles from Uruguay, it took almost three decades… Read More The REAL Marble Palace!
Last night our Spanish teacher, Ignacio “Nacho” Medina, set up an informal get-together at Mercado Ferrando with some of his local students whom we have come to know through Cada Día Spanish: David, Libbie and Hanna. Along with Janice Hayden (and her husband Elliot Quint) and Marsha Walker, all of these people are those whom… Read More Meeting in person for the first time!
Yesterday morning we took an Uber to meet Nacho at the Parque Rodó, not far from our hotel. The Uber ride was amazingly cheap, about $4 one way. The Parque Rodó is a large public space with a central lake and an open-air stage. The park also features a castle, a gazebo, an Andalusian-style patio… Read More Sightseeing day in Montevideo
On our walking tour of the old city on Wednesday, I neglected to mention that we also made a short visit to the Catedral Montevideo. It is located right in front of the Cabildo across Constitution Square, in the neighborhood of Ciudad Vieja. Did you know what organists do when they walk into a large… Read More Organs and cemeteries
After two redeye flights with zero sleep (because of an ear worm of the “Hallelujah Chorus” stuck in my head!), a 12-hour layover in Houston, plus another 9 hour layover in Buenos Aires, we finally arrived in Montevideo. We were met at the airport by our Spanish teacher, Ignacio “Nacho” Medina and went out for… Read More ¡Aquí estamos! Here we are!
Will they or won’t they? What I’m talking about is my Easter Day postlude this year—I will be playing an arrangement of Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus for organ and three trumpets, no choir. Tradition has it that people stand for the Hallelujah Chorus, because “it’s tradition.” At the end of the service, the pastor gives the… Read More Will they? Or won’t they?
If you had told me even four years ago that I would begin an intensive study of Spanish and end up flying from Honolulu to Buenos Aires and Montevideo to meet my Spanish teachers I never would have believed you. But here I am, sitting at the Daniel Inouye International Airport waiting for a flight… Read More Aloha, Honolulu! ¡Hola, Montevideo y Buenos Aires!
As I was driving home from the airport this afternoon, having taught organ lessons on Kauai, the traffic was absolutely wretched. I had decided to take Dillingham Boulevard (surface streets) instead of staying on the freeway, which I immediately found out was a bad decision! There are lanes closed off due to the ongoing construction… Read More In love with Requiems
Last night I stayed up late, to take advantage of Priority Booking for reserving tickets for the Three Choirs Festival, billed as “the world’s finest choral music.” The booking office opened at 10:00 am in Gloucester, UK, which is 11:00 pm in Hawaii. I logged onto my computer at 10:55 pm and didn’t finish booking… Read More Three Choirs, here we come!