Seventy four years ago, on June 2, 1953, a 27-year-old Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was crowned Queen Elizabeth II in an almost 3-hour ceremony, which was preceded by a 5-mile long procession. 8,251 people attended the service at Westminster Abbey, and the coronation was the first to be televised. Elizabeth’s coronation was also the second… Read More Music for a Coronation
It seems hard to believe that it’s been exactly 23 years to the day since my husband Carl Crosier conducted Johann Sebastian Bach’s monumental Matthäuspassion (St. Matthew Passion) in two ground-breaking performances, March 31-April 1, 2000. Carl’s passion for the work started when I was pregnant with my son, Stephen, and I experienced problems with… Read More A Passion for BWV 244
At last night’s concert by Thomas Yee and Tyler Ramos my ears perked up when I overheard two women, strangers to me, talking to each other before the concert. “I remember Carl Crosier was the organist here for many years then he retired. He died from cancer but his wife Kathy plays the organ.” I… Read More Overheard
“The passing of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement early Sunday. When I read the news about Desmond Tutu, anti-apartheid leader and voice of justice, dead at… Read More Desmond Tutu memories
I am in Seattle this weekend because the Compline Choir is celebrating a streak of 65 unbroken years of Sunday nights singing the last monastic office of the day. I felt special to be included in the festivities, starting with a buffet dinner on Saturday at “Chez Hallock,” the former home of Peter Hallock, now… Read More 65 years of Compline
In my last post, I wrote about the upcoming 65th anniversary of Compline which will be celebrated at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle after 65 years of weekly services . I couldn’t help but think all of that was due to the work of one man, namely Peter R. Hallock, our former business partner of… Read More Love, prh
Edith Ho, 1932-2021. We brought a lei for Edith as she was honored in 2007 at her retirement from the Church of the Advent, Boston. Luckily she had a blouse to match! Edith Ho wasn’t more than five feet tall yet she was a giant in the field of church music. In one of the… Read More A giant in church music
If you have been reading this blog since November 2020, you may remember the post I wrote about my husband’s fortepiano, “The fortepiano returns!” You may recall that my husband, Carl, was the recipient of a Philip Belt fortepiano upon the death of his college piano teacher, Else Geissmar. Then when Carl died, he bequeathed… Read More A new home for Else!
From time to time, I have mentioned the name of my Swiss friend, Vreni Griffith. I first noticed her unusual name when I used to stick name labels on our music mailings for the Lutheran Church of Honolulu—that was probably in the early 90s. I later found out “Vreni” was a shortened version of “Varena”… Read More ¡Muchísimas gracias!
I was very pleasantly surprised this morning to see that a performance of Bach’s Concerto in A minor for four harpsichords was featured in CNN’s 5 Things to know for today for April 9, 2021. When I played the YouTube video by the Netherlands Bach Society, I was immediately transported to the nights of October… Read More Four harpsichord concerto