Maybe you saw the Washington Post opinion piece today, “It’s hard to sell a piano these days. It’s even harder to contemplate junking one.” Author John Ficarra, who was the editor of Mad magazine from 1985-2018, was lucky and ended up using it as a trade-in for a new instrument. Ficarra wrote: It hasn’t been… Read More Rescuing the unwanted
My organist and Symphony buddy, Sam Lam, texted me with the news: “Bud Klein died Sept. 27.” This was a shock to me, as I’ve known Henry C. “Bud” Klein for over 40 years. He was primarily known to me as the choir director emeritus of Waiokeola Congregational Church. He was one of the original… Read More Aloha, Bud!
This is my last week in Honolulu before embarking on my summer travel. I had one last gig this morning—substituting for Gloria Faltstrom, organist at Waiokeola Congregational Church, and home to the Heissler tracker organ. Waiokeola is also the parish church of a former student of mine, Andrew Moore, the grandson of Bud Klein, the… Read More Boston on the brain!
This Sunday I’ll be filling in for organist Gloria Faltstrom at Waiokeola Congregational Church (UCC), across the street from Kahala Mall. Waiokeola is a Hawaiian phrase meaning “Water of Life.” The name reflects both the Hawaiian tradition of name giving as well as the positive characteristics of the Christian faith. The name is a fitting acknowledgement of the past… Read More Another Sunday, another organ
Today marked the third year I have hosted a lunch for my former organ students who are away at college on the mainland but home for Christmas in Hawaii. We could have had as many as six (or seven!) students there, but several have already returned to school. I invited Naomi Yuen-Schat and her mom to… Read More Welcome, home!
The relationship between teacher and student can be a delicate dance, a balance of pushing, pulling, coaxing, and definitely a two-way street. No one probably knows this better than Jennifer Lane, who with her husband, Jim Carr, is in Hawaii to teach her annual vocal workshop. You may remember that Jennifer was first invited to perform… Read More The teacher and the student