My lack of sleep caught up with me as I nearly missed a 7:30 am deadline to have our luggage set out in preparation for leaving Amsterdam. It was a good thing I had packed my suitcase the night before because when I opened my eyes and looked at my phone, it said 7:28 am!… Read More Maastricht
Because our tour director wanted us to see part of the Aalsmeer flower auction which started at 3:00 am, we had to leave our Amsterdam hotel at 7:15 am, arriving about 8:00. The Royal FloraHolland is the largest international trading platform for plants and flowers—we entered only one of eight massive warehouses. The total area… Read More Aalsmeer and Delft
When I was in Amsterdam last April (only three months ago!) I had no idea that I would be back so soon! You see, I had signed up for a tour of Marian shrines in France, Spain and Portugal, but due to insufficient registration, the tour got cancelled. So, I had to find another tour… Read More I ❤️ Amsterdam!
Even though I set my alarm for 3:45 am, when I woke up and looked at my phone, it said 3:22 am. Yikes! Who needs sleep anyway? I had requested a 4:30 am taxi to the airport, and this time I didn’t forget anything important, like my phone or credit cards which I did when… Read More Back to Amsterdam
Our last night in Prague was spent together at a farewell dinner. The room was noisy with excited conversation and laughter, happiness in meeting new friends and a shared travel experience with long-time friends. Christel Yount made presentations and expressed appreciation to all the soloists, conductors and accompanists. She was also the mastermind of a… Read More Farewell to Prague
One thing I will remember about this Prague trip will certainly be the music making by the Hawaii Masterworks Chorus in beautiful churches with acoustically ambient spaces. Last night’s concert was such a highlight for performers and audience alike. So many people came out smiling and thanking us as they left the church. There is… Read More Music and motorcycles
Tonight was the last concert of the tour, and took place in San Salvator Church—the tour directors only figured out this afternoon that there were TWO San Salvator churches which were having concerts tonight, and they had to scramble to let everyone know that we were in the OTHER San Salvator Church! We were also… Read More Standing ovation in Prague
En route to Prague from Salzburg, we stopped at the Augustinian monastery and chapel at St. Florian, where composer Anton Bruckner grew up as a choirboy and became organist. We began with a 45-minute tour of the monastery and I was impressed with two major rooms: the library, which houses about 130,000 books and manuscripts;… Read More St. Florian
As I have written before, the vocal a cappella ensemble, Karol’s Karolers has joined the Hawaii Masterworks Chorus in its tour of Eastern Europe. They have also been invited to sing a piece separate from the larger group, and because their repertoire has not been widely publicized, it’s always a delightful surprise when they break… Read More He is still with us
We had the morning free so I chose to go back to Salzburg Cathedral (the Dom) where I had gone to the World Choral Fest 2018 concert last night. It was a program of music by Mozart and American composer, Dan Forrest, who happened to be in the audience last night. The 100+ singers were… Read More 5 organs in Salzburg Cathedral