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
While I am off practicing, my local consultant felt compelled to write in my absence. Although I have been quoted in several of Kathy’s blog posts, this will be the first time I have actually written one myself. For the regular readers of this blog, you probably have already surmised that the upcoming Bach recitals… Read More A labor of love
Our late friend and colleague, John McCreary, retired from St. Andrew’s Cathedral and Iolani School, used to lament the typically poor attendance at organ recitals. He’d say something like, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, let there be an organ recital!” (or something like that!), a take-off on the Matthew 18:20 text:… Read More Where two or three are gathered . . . NOT!
You probably guessed it, when I say “Half and half” I’m not referring to a beverage that we in the United States call that liquid which is half milk and half cream. I’m instead referring to how I’m going to play Bach’s Great Eighteen Chorales on August 18 and 25. A number of people have… Read More Half and half
One of my favorite commercials on TV goes something like this: Whenever I hear those iconic words, “O say can you see…” I always say to myself, “Not that good!” So many times people whom I haven’t seen in awhile come up to me and say, “How are your eyes? How’s your vision?” usually I… Read More ‘Oh, say can you see’
I wanted to tell you a little about the Bach Chamber Choir which is the ensemble joining me in my upcoming Great Eighteen Chorales concerts. Here is a description of the group as printed in the program: The Bach Chamber Choir is a professional ensemble consisting of some of Honolulu’s finest choral artists, many of whom are… Read More The Bach Chamber Choir
This week I’m back at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church to play their High Mass, and if I do say so myself, everything went fine last Sunday except for one teeny-tiny glitch in the Gospel Acclamation. The assembly sang “Laudate dominum” by Jacques Berthier from Taizé which had a first and second ending. (You might be… Read More Don’t mind if I do!
Today is July 28th, and it was 263 years ago that the great Johann Sebastian Bach, departed this life in the year 1750. According to Christoph Wolff, Bach was healthy for most of his life except for the last year. His eyesight was failing, perhaps due to cataracts as well as untreated diabetes. The obituary… Read More 263 years ago today
I’ve been busy in the last few days — I feel like I’ve been stuck to my computer as I have been doing research and writing up program notes for my upcoming Bach Great Eighteen Chorales concerts on August 18 and 25. I have also worked on creating choral music editions of the four-part chorales (also done on… Read More Coming up for air
We have been back in Hawaii not quite two days and I have been hitting the ground running in the ramp-up to my Bach concerts on August 18 and 25. I have not yet been able to get to the organ yet since I had my monthly eye injection yesterday. But now the real work… Read More Hitting the ground running