Today was the official opening of the Region IX Convention of the American Guild of Organists in Bakersfield, CA. Everyone is telling us that we are extremely lucky that it is not a typical June day in Bakersfield — the weather is much cooler than normal — perhaps in the high 80s. By the end… Read More A handbell choir of one
I am now in Bakersfield, CA where I came a day early to be a judge at the AGO/Quimby Regional Competition for Young Organists (RCYO). I was most impressed with the organization of the competition — each judge was given a three-ring binder with the complete set of rules, note paper, repertoire lists, and evaluation… Read More A day of competition
We are home for just four days before we take off again for California and Indiana on Friday. I will be attending a convention for the American Guild of Organists (AGO) in Bakersfield, CA and the national biennial conference of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians (ALCM) in Valparaiso, IN. We had just walked in… Read More Sneak preview
A few days ago, we held the annual meeting of the Hawaii Chapter American Guild of Organists (AGO) at our condo, and for various reasons, the attendance was about half of what it was a year ago. One of our members, Winfred Hancock, told me that he wasn’t able to come, but at age 93,… Read More Dwindling ranks
It was back in May 2011 that I received a message from Wyatt Smith, a young organist from South Dakota: Hi Katherine, I just wanted to say how much I REALLY enjoy reading your blog. It is one thing I look forward to every day. I really wish that I could just fly out to Honolulu… Read More A visitor from the Internet
When I opened my email this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I’ve been invited to be a judge at an organ competition! It will be the AGO/Quimby Regional Competition for Young Organists for Region IX, which encompasses the states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah plus Korea, Singapore, Sydney and… Read More A first time for everything
Today was the day that the Lutheran Church of Honolulu celebrated my 35 years as organist — and the most amazing thing was that the rain held off until AFTER the party was over! It was so nice to see so many familiar faces, friends, colleagues and even some people from the distant past. One… Read More It was Kathy Day!
As some of you know, I will be one of the workshop presenters at the Region IX Convention of the American Guild of Organists in Bakersfield, CA, June 24-26, 2013. My topic will be “Teaching Little Fingers to Play the Organ,” and will address the special challenges of teaching children with no prior keyboard experience. On… Read More Performing in the golden years
So yesterday, I opened my email and found this message from the Lutheran Church of Honolulu: You may remember that when I announced that Christmas Day 2012 would be my last service, there was mention of a celebration party happening in January. Well — it’s going to be April 14th, and to be honest, it… Read More Time to party (finally!)
That is the message I texted to my former student, Joey Fala, when he directed me to the New York City chapter American Guild of Organists website where I saw this: Joey said that his local Eastern New York AGO chapter didn’t have enough applicants to hold a competition, but they were generous to give… Read More (Screams of delight!)