Today Naomi Castro posted this photo of bass Keane Ishii on her FaceBook page with the news that he has accepted the position of choir director of Holy Nativity Episcopal Church. She wrote: Bittersweet times this rehearsal. Saying goodbye to my long-time LCH brother, Keane Ishii, who is going on to do great things as choral director… Read More New beginnings
Today was the one and only rehearsal with the Bach Chamber Choir, the ensemble which will sing the four-part chorales in front of each chorale setting of the Great Eighteen Chorales. Tomorrow is the Big Day! We will arrive at the church at noon to turn the church into a concert hall by turning the… Read More Ready for Bach
An encore is an extra piece that is played at the end a performance. It is not on the program, although the performer may have secretly planned it. A performer will play an encore if the audience claps a lot. Sometimes the audience shout “encore!” when they want an encore. The word “encore” is the French word for “again”. An encore is usually a… Read More Encore
Those of you who attended my celebration party on April 14th heard me extend an invitation to come back to the Lutheran Church of Honolulu on Sunday, August 18th and August 25th for Bach Masterworks: The Great Eighteen Chorales. Yep, I’ve officially set the date for presenting these great masterpieces, BWV 651-668 in a 2-concert Bach mini-series.… Read More What’s in a name?
“I need a project!” I told my husband, Carl, a couple of weeks ago. We were reminiscing about an all-Bach concert he and I played in 1979 in which between the two of us, we performed Bach’s Clavierübung III, the so-called “German Organ Mass,” a collection of 21 chorale preludes, bookended by the Prelude and Fugue in… Read More Back to practicing Bach
Can you believe it’s been almost two years since we celebrated Claudio Monteverdi’s 400th anniversary with two ground-breaking performances of his Vespers of 1610? Now we will celebrate the music of Giovanni Gabrieli (1554-1612), and this time it’s the 400th anniversary of his death. Over the past couple of weeks, Carl Crosier has been hard at… Read More Glorious Gabrieli
For next Sunday’s Joint Evensong with St. Andrew’s Cathedral Choir, I wasn’t planning to do anything other than sit in the congregation and take a few photos. But then, on Monday Carl suggested to Cathedral Musician, John Renke, that perhaps I could be “persuaded” to play Bach’s “Aus tiefer Not” (Out of the depths have… Read More Out of the depths