The first event of the morning for me was Choral Matins in Grace Cathedral. You must know that this whole convention was about choices — in addition to Matins, you could also elect to go to an African-American worship service in a Baptist church or an organ and violin concert by a Chinese organist. There… Read More Last day of the convention
Since I arrived in San Francisco early on Monday morning, I can honestly say that I haven’t stopped moving except to catch a few winks before getting up early and doing it all over again. For example, yesterday after Joey Fala’s concert, I boarded the bus to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Berkeley to hear… Read More Wall-to-wall activities
One of the best programs of the convention so far…Powerful performance …Strong sense of driving rhythm …My favorite concert of the convention! These were some of the comments I heard from audience members after former student Joey Fala’s performance at the First Church of Christ Scientist in Berkeley today. And all day, people from the… Read More Joey’s Day!
Tonight’s concert featured two superstars of the organ world, Olivier Latry of Notre Dame cathedral of Paris, and his wife, Shin-Young Lee, who to me previously was unknown, but certainly as deserving as her husband the moniker of “superstar.” The concert took place at St. Ignatius Church, with a new organ by Hupalo & Repasky… Read More Twenty fingers, four feet!
No question, the performances at organists’ conventions are the best of the best, AND these performers are at the top of their game. We heard two of best this afternoon, Ken Cowan from Rice University and Peter Sykes from Juilliard and Boston University. Ken Cowan played a gorgeous E. M. Skinner organ (1925/1928) at Trinity… Read More Connections
After playing two Sunday morning services plus evensong and benediction in the afternoon I ate a quick snack before my friend Mark Russell took me to the airport. My flight left at 10:45 PM and I arrived in San Francisco at 6:10 AM. I would have felt really wiped out had I not been upgraded… Read More Over the top stunning!
We’ve all heard of distracted driving—which is defined by Wikipedia by: Distracted driving is the act of driving while engaging in other activities which distract the driver’s attention away from the road. Distractions are shown to compromise the safety of the driver, passengers, pedestrians, and people in other vehicles. But I’ll dare to introduce a new… Read More Distracted?
For the first time ever in my professional career (that’s almost six decades!), I am working in a parish which will formally recognize the efforts of its choir. In this week’s parish newsletter at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, The Rev. Paul Lillie wrote: … at the High Mass Aloha Hour there will be a reception… Read More Choir Recognition
I can’t believe that it was just a week ago that I was sitting at the Honolulu airport getting ready to fly out to California. My red-eye flight was delayed, which meant that we left after midnight and I arrived in Burbank on Monday afternoon (with a layover in San Francisco). We picked up my… Read More A whirlwind week
Well, you’ll never guess where I am again—my home away from home, Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu! This time I will take a very quick trip to California to celebrate my grandson’s 7th birthday. People at my two churches won’t even know that I’ll be gone—I’ll be back for Thursday choir rehearsal! At… Read More Land of Fire and Ice