Everyone knows that this Christmas is going to be different — all because of the pandemic. For one thing, this will be the first time in eight years that I will not be leaving Hawaii at Christmas. Yes, it’s true, since 2012 I have spent all my Christmases in California (except for three years ago,… Read More A different kind of Christmas
Last night I attended the 44th Advent Procession at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, and afterwards, a few people mentioned to me that they had been thinking of Carl Crosier. Actually, I was thinking of both Carl (who died in 2014), as well as the late Peter Hallock (1924-2014) and their influence upon the… Read More Advent Procession, The “O” Antiphons
I only spent one year in Princeton, NJ, attending graduate school at Westminster Choir College where I obtained my Master of Music degree in Organ Performance, but I daresay it had more influence on me as a musician than did five years of organ lessons in high school, a summer studying with French virtuoso Marcel… Read More A sad day
In spite of the fact that the Oahu Choral Society scheduled its performance of the Verdi Requiem on a Thursday night, (and the Thursday before Palm Sunday at that!), there was certainly a decent audience. (Don’t they know that God made Thursdays for choir practice!) I invited my organist colleague, Elizabeth Wong, to share a… Read More Verdi Requiem
About a week ago, I got an email from Jason Anderson, about whom I’ve written posts as he is Peter Hallock’s successor as the director of the Compline Choir in Seattle. You may also remember that Jason was Peter’s biographer and wrote his doctoral dissertation on The Life and Works of Peter R. Hallock (b. 1924) at… Read More A virtual interview
We are continuing to receive notes of thanks and accolades for our two performances of Bach’s Mass in B Minor last weekend. And I must admit I still have some of those choruses running through my head! I believe that phenomenon is called an “earworm.” It’s when a melody gets stuck in your brain, replays… Read More Still abuzz about Bach
It’s been said that you never find mistakes in your work until 1000 copies are printed. That adage was certainly true of the program booklet I designed for the Bach Mass in B Minor. No matter how many times Carl and I looked at it, we didn’t catch the mistakes until after the books were… Read More Bach Program Book
Aside from a chair falling over in between movements, last night’s opening performance of Bach’s monumental Mass in B Minor was perfect in every way. Maestro Carl Crosier set the pace with a grand opening Kyrie followed by a series of fast, joyful choruses contrasted with expressive solos and duets. The final Dona nobis pacem… Read More A new high
We didn’t get home last night until 11 pm from transforming the church into a concert hall, so it was pretty hard getting up this morning at our usual 5 am. We had to make one more airport run to pick up bass David Newman, who flew in from Washington, DC. Carl has contracted David… Read More David Newman and the first orchestra rehearsal