Well, I saved the best for last—my visit to St. Nicholas Basilica all came about because of Joe Pettit, former Honolulu resident, organist and choirmaster. When he found out that I was going to Amsterdam, he fixed me up with Michael Hedley, who with his wife, Colleen, moved to Amsterdam in the 80s. Joe called it “hands… Read More St. Nicolas Basilica, Amsterdam
,,, and probably just another concert for members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, but for me, a magical night of music! What made it so extraordinary was hearing a world-class orchestra in these extraordinary acoustics—it made all the difference. I didn’t realize I had booked a ticket SO CLOSE—even though my ticket was listed at… Read More A night at the Concertgebouw
When I was growing up, one of my father’s favorite activity was gardening—he cultivated cymbidium orchids and had a hothouse in the back yard full of them and of all varieties. He also loved going to nurseries and botanic gardens. All of my growing up years when he would say, “Let’s go see some flowers!”… Read More Boring … NOT!
This afternoon I reconnected with Diane Amidon, who lives in nearby Raleigh, NC. She and I first became acquainted when we were both freshmen at USC School of Music—she was a soprano voice major, and I knew her then as Diane Rose. I lost track of her after sophomore year and didn’t find out that… Read More Reminiscing and reconnecting
When I was in Rome, Italy in November of 2015, our GoAhead tour director, Barbara Valloni, went around the room at the orientation meeting and asked us where we were from. One woman after another answered “North Carolina,” “North Carolina,” “North Carolina!” Apparently most of them were teachers (or relatives) and came from a small… Read More Reconnecting in North Carolina
I spent Friday at the North Carolina Museum of Art and by far, the most captivating experience was “Forty Part Motet” at a special exhibition called “You Are Here: Light, Color, and Sound Experiences.” It was a room full of 40 speakers—apparently every single singer had been miked individually in Thomas Tallis’ Spem in alium for eight 5-part… Read More Forty part motet
After Friday’s carillon recital, Joey Fala booked time on the four major pipe organs so that I could have a chance to play. We went on an “organ crawl,” which is what organists call it when they visit organs in other churches. According to one source, “It’s called a crawl, because participants literally can get… Read More Duke organ crawl
In the tower of Duke University Chapel is a 50-bell carillon, played on weekdays at 5:00 p.m. and before and after Sunday worship services and special events. There are about 200 winding steps to the top but yesterday I was privileged to ride the elevator up with the University’s carillonneur, Samuel Hammond. This was my… Read More The view from the top
As I was listening to my former student Joey Fala play Choral Vespers at Duke University tonight, I thought he must surely be in hog heaven! I thought back to a day sixteen years ago when I first met Joey at Iolani School, who used to always come to chapel to hear me practice. His… Read More Hog heaven
What is the seating capacity of Duke University Chapel? That’s the question I typed into my phone at the concert by the Tallis Scholars last night. The answer I got was 1600, and although I couldn’t see all the way to the back, the building looked pretty full to me. The Tallis Scholars is a… Read More Heavenly sublime