On Sunday we entertained our first guests, er, they entertained us since my husband, Carl Crosier, was released to hospice care in our home. It was The Stark Family, who put on a most enjoyable mini-concert with all four members of the family either singing or playing. I must tell you, it was really great to hear… Read More At home mini-concert
After two abdominal surgeries and a combined total of 23 days in the hospital, my husband Carl Crosier has returned home to hospice care. We are both discovering what that means — what the possibilities, and what the limitations are. It took two hours to meet with our assigned hospice nurse, Stacy, to go through… Read More Home, James!
On Saturday afternoon I attended the Honolulu Handbell Ensemble concert at LCH which featured all four members of the Stark Family in combination with handbells. Director Young Pak put together a most enjoyable program on the theme “Peace;” nearly all of the pieces had the word “peace” in the title. We heard handbell music in a solo… Read More Handbells plus The Stark Family
That’s how people are remembering percussionist Steve Dinion, who died suddenly yesterday, after a short bout with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Arnold Alconcel was kind enough to share this video of Steve, and I’m posting here for those of you who do not have FaceBook access. The piece is the “Akadinda Trio” by Emmanuel Sejourne for three… Read More Joyful and focused
Are organists the only musicians who never know what to expect when they have to perform on their instruments? I can’t tell you the number of times I have come to the church and found something not working on the organ. There was the time I was scheduled to play Jeremiah Clarke’s Trumpet Voluntary in… Read More Handicapped!
Ordinarily I refrain from identifying children in this blog, but when this girl’s parents posted this video to YouTube, I figured that it’s okay. (And I got specific permission as well.) The video is of eight-year-old Sophia Stark, daughter of violinist Darel Stark and soprano Georgine Stark, who won the Hawaii Stars Vocal Competition, Keiki Division, for… Read More Like mother, like daughter
This weekend I’m going to two, count ’em, two vocal and instrumental concerts at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, featuring two performers who are husband-and-wife teams. The first will be Friday night at 7:30pm and will be presented by Early Music Hawaii. The concert by Asteria, called “Flower of Passion — Thorn of Despair,” featuring Sylvia Rhyne,… Read More Duo duos
Last Friday night, Early Music Hawaii presented a concert called “Oratorio,” 17th century sacred drama from Rome to Handel, in the reverberant acoustics of St. Theresa’s Co-Cathedral. Some of the town’s very best early musicians participated — and the dress rehearsal with choir and orchestra was held on Thursday night. The personnel for whom this… Read More Double, triple, quadruple!
is how one listener described Friday night’s Early Music Hawaii program, “Oratorio.” What a truly wonderful concert last night!!! One expects Georgine to outdo herself, and she did. But Naomi really “covered herself in glory!” (as the Romans used to say). Her tone and technique seem to have matured and acquired a level of professional… Read More A stunning concert
Last week was a week of calm for me since I wasn’t able to teach any organ lessons — the reason being was that we hosted organbuilder Hans-Ulrich Erbsloeh from Hamburg, Germany and his colleague, Bernharndt Becker, while they replaced the worn pulldowns on the pedals on the Beckerath organ. It turned out to be… Read More A week of calm before the storm