Yesterday was St. Joseph’s Day (March 19), and as I told my compañeras in my Spanish conversation club, I was going to be sitting at the organ at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, playing a Solemn Mass for St. Joseph. Most often, St. Joseph’s Day (March 19) falls in the season of Lent, and this year… Read More Full organ for St. Joseph’s Day!
Let’s see how good your memory is … (or how quickly you can search the blog!) Do you remember when, in 2013, I played the complete Great Eighteen chorales of Bach, what was given out after the concert? The dates of the concerts were August 18 and 25, 2013, which may give you a clue… Read More Sweet memories
Flabbergasted! Okay, even though I know what it means, it’s not a word that I use in ordinary conversation. The term originated in 1772, and was mentioned (with bored) in a magazine article as a new vogue word, likely an arbitrary formation from flabby or flapper and aghast. Dictionary.com defines the word flabbergasted as an adjective, “to overcome with surprise… Read More Flabbergasted!
Totally at home. That’s how I felt last night sitting at the fabulous Flentrop organ at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Berkeley. In fact, I told George Emblom, the church’s music director, that I felt like I had more and better practice than I did at home—no interruptions, not having to stop to give a… Read More Totally at home
What a difference a couple of weeks makes! Two weeks ago I played the large settings of Bach’s Clavierübung as a glorious celebration of Martin Luther, the Lutheran chorale, and the Reformation. Today America has changed, and the mood is somber and angry—our future is uncertain following last week’s election. Yet I will play many… Read More Bach for healing
After practicing this morning, I took the BART to the very end of the line, Millbrae, where I was picked up and driven to the home of Joe Hansen and Rick Cicinelli. If you go back and read my post about our performance of Bach’s Mass in B Minor in 2011 (“Total triumph“) you will… Read More The solution: trio sonatas!
Did you know that the phrase, “warts and all,” is attributed to Oliver Cromwell, in his instructions to the portrait artist, Sir Peter Lely? According to the Free Dictionary, Cromwell ordered Lely “not to flatter him, but to paint him with any and all physicial imperfections . . . “warts and all.” Nowadays, when we… Read More Warts and all
Yesterday I have to admit that the period between 5:30 and 6:15 pm was pretty frantic. I actually had a relaxing day, as my only task was to find a piece of jewelry to wear to dress up my outfit. And I finally found it—an opal-esque pendant from Walmart that only cost $5! However it took… Read More Clavierübung—so many notes!
Tonight was the dress rehearsal for my Bach Clavierübung concert and I am happy to report there were no train wrecks—at least in my part! As you will see in the program, this body of Bach’s chorale preludes are among his most complex and technically demanding of all his organ works. Thirty-seven years ago, Carl Crosier… Read More No train wrecks!
As I was eating breakfast and scanning today’s newspaper, I was wondering whether there would be any notice of my organ concert on Sunday. And lest I had any doubt, when I turned to page 19 in the TGIF Entertainment section, there among ads for new cocktails, trick-or-treat cakes, all you can eat shabu shabu, free… Read More I was wondering … YOWSER!