Well, this has been an incredible week, and you must know that we only scratched the surface of all the events and activities that were presented here in Boston at the American Guild of Organists national convention. Altogether there were 38 unique concerts, and 8 varied worship services, 140 workshops and scholarly research programs, more… Read More Saving the best for last
On our last afternoon at the National Convention of the American Guild of Organists, we returned to the beautiful nave at St. Cecilia’s for a recital of eclectic and most enjoyable music performed by Chelsea Chen. I first met Chelsea many years ago when she was one of the winners of the Region IX competition, and… Read More Already a superstar
Tuesday morning was the opening convocation at the Boston 2014 American Guild of Organists convention and as about 1800 of us organists and choirmasters gathered at the Church of the Holy Cross, I couldn’t help but think that this was not your typical Sunday morning congregation. Of course, how many in our parishes have 1800… Read More Not your typical congregation
The usual scheme of concert programming is to schedule one concerto on a single program. But for the opening of the Boston 2014 American Guild of Organists, we heard FIVE organ concertos in one sitting, and all FIVE played stunningly by James David Christie with the Boston Landmark Orchestra, Christopher Wilkins, conductor. The works were:… Read More Five concertos in one night!
We had to get up at the ungodly hour of 3:30 am (!) in order to make our plane to Boston, which left Portland at 5:55 am. We are staying in Newton Centre with our good friend, Edith Ho, who was for many years the organist-choirmaster of the Church of the Advent. She has recently… Read More We are in Boston!
Would you believe that there’s a Wikipedia entry for “Say cheese,” the phrase that is uttered to make one smile for the camera? What’s more interesting, though, is what is said in other countries. Here are some of my favorites: In China, the word used is 茄子 (qie2zi), meaning “eggplant“. The pronunciation of this word is… Read More Say “Cheese”!
Yesterday the death of 86-year-old choral conductor, Paul Salamunovich, was announced by his son and the tributes are pouring in. The Los Angeles Times called him “Grammy-nominated … who helped shape the Los Angeles Master Chorale into one of the world’s finest choirs.” Click here to read the extensive obituary by Times writer Randy Lewis… Read More A choral giant
This past weekend was a highpoint for the local chapter of the American Guild of Organists: we hosted Michael Crisostomo Hey for the Ninth Annual Organ Concert and were treated to a dazzling display of virtuosity. As I was listening to him play, wave after wave of “chills” came over me. I was so impressed… Read More Dazzling display of virtuosity
It was nine years ago that I recommended to the local American Guild of Organists Executive Board that we bring Paul Jacobs, the youngest head of the Juilliard School Organ Department, to Hawaii to give a recital. I had heard him play several times, but it was his performance in New York at the Association of Lutheran… Read More Michael Hey, Concert Organist
Yesterday we were in Tacoma, WA, and took in an all-Bach organ recital at Christ Episcopal Church, where we heard Tomoko Miyamoto from Ferris University in Yokohama, Japan, play selections from Bach’s Clavierübung III, the German organ mass. The tracker organ is by John Brombaugh and is in a lovely acoustic. We found out about the concert through… Read More Bach in Tacoma