For much of my adult life, if it was summer, I would be taking the opportunities to gather with my colleagues at an organists convention (American Guild of Organists = AGO) or church musicians conference (Association of Lutheran Church Musicians = ALCM). I’ve also attended conventions of the Royal College of Canadian Organists (RCCO) and… Read More Beauty endures
I usually get a draft of the service order a few weeks ahead where I find out what the hymns and other musical parts of the service are going to be. I submit titles of my organ voluntaries for the prelude, introit and postlude on Mondays for the following Sundays. I then get a draft… Read More Like catching fastballs
Two years ago, on April 15, 2019, the world watched in horror at the tragic fire at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, France. At that time, organists all over the world breathed a sigh of relief when the fire did not reach the historic Cathedral organ. Last August, work began to dismantle and… Read More Devastating fire
Maybe you saw the Washington Post opinion piece today, “It’s hard to sell a piano these days. It’s even harder to contemplate junking one.” Author John Ficarra, who was the editor of Mad magazine from 1985-2018, was lucky and ended up using it as a trade-in for a new instrument. Ficarra wrote: It hasn’t been… Read More Rescuing the unwanted
If you have been reading this blog since November 2020, you may remember the post I wrote about my husband’s fortepiano, “The fortepiano returns!” You may recall that my husband, Carl, was the recipient of a Philip Belt fortepiano upon the death of his college piano teacher, Else Geissmar. Then when Carl died, he bequeathed… Read More A new home for Else!
If this had been a normal year, I would have been in Boston now, attending the biennial Boston Early Music Festival as I have done five or six times before. I would be fighting off jet lag and trying to keep my eyes open during the opening opera, “Le Carnaval de Venise,” although dazzled by… Read More Virtual BEMF
This is “Priory Week” for me because: a. On Sunday I played for St. Andrew’s Priory Baccalaureate.b. Last night, I played for 6th Grade Moving Up Ceremony (girls only)c. Tonight, I played for 6th Grade Graduation (boys only)d. Friday, I’ll play for graduation rehearsale. Sunday, I’ll play for Graduation. Although Queen Emma founded the school… Read More The fulfillment of a dream
Today is May 30, 2021. That means it has been exactly 50 years since French virtuoso, Marcel Dupré, played his last Sunday service at Saint-Sulpice, went to his beloved home in Meudon for lunch and died peacefully about 7 pm that evening. I know that I recently wrote a post about my former teacher, “Time… Read More Celebrating Marcel Dupré
Friday night was a first—my first time in a theatre in at least 14 months to watch a performance because of the pandemic. Now that I am fully vaccinated, I felt safe to be at Diamond Head Theatre to take in the Honolulu production of “Forever Plaid,” an off-Broadway musical revue. The theatre was as… Read More What a coincidence!
“Nice T-shirt you have on.” I heard the voice of a young man behind me as I was on my daily 2-1/2 mile walk through downtown Honolulu. He was pushing a stroller with a blond toddler, and caught up with me. I was wearing my T-shirt from the Organ Historical Society—the OHS is a not-for-profit organization… Read More A T-shirt leads to a conversation