When organbuilder Hans-Ulrich Erbslöh was in Honolulu in May, we floated the possibility of seeing one another again while on this GoAhead Tour of Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. So today, Bill Potter and I “played hooky” from a walking tour of Munich and took the train to the Hohenschäftlarn station where Hans picked us up.… Read More An unexpected treat!
Last weekend was the 50th anniversary of the dedicatory concerts by McNeil Robinson at the Beckerath organ of the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, which in itself is an auspicious occasion — but whatʻs REALLY SCARY is that I was there in person, fifty years ago! Yikes! There were two dedication concerts, but since so much… Read More Fifty years later
A few days ago, I received an email from my friend and former organist duet partner, Jieun Kim Newland. Hi Kathy, A good friend of mine, Russell Weismann is visiting Honolulu. He and I studied together at ISM (Institute of Sacred Music). He is a fabulous organist and is teaching at Georgetown University. Russ is also… Read More Distinguished visitor
I think it was already Wednesday when I decided to have a dinner party Friday. That was last night, when I invited the German organ builders, Hans-Ulrich Erbslöh and Bernd Becker, along with Barry Wenger and Steve Hoover, plus Frank and Sue Haas, who are hosting Hans in their home in Kailua. Barry, as you… Read More Last minute dinner party
Hans-Ulrich Erbslöh, who first came to Hawaii nearly 50 years ago to install the Beckerath organ, is back in town, along with his assistant, Bernd Becker, to service the two organs in the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, in addition to the J. W. Walker organ at St. Christopher’s Kailua; the Beckerath organ at Holy Innocents,… Read More The German organbuilders are here!
”You mean, you would play your concert for only one or two people?” Indeed we would, and in fact, Jieun Kim Newland and I actually gave the Dueling Bach concert a total of five times (!) and luckily it has gotten easier each time. We did two run-throughs (in front of a few people) before… Read More Bach—the second time around
Much as I loved my little “box organ” from the workshop of Klaus Grüble which I purchased three years ago for my condo, I found it nigh impossible to play a significant part of the organ literature: music for three distinct voices or trios—music which necessitates two manuals and pedal. My baby organ has only… Read More Birch, cherry and plum
After last night’s Dueling Bach concert for two organs was over, the videographer, Glenn Yoshida, said to me, “People kept turning their heads from side to side—I thought the audience was watching a tennis match!” Yes, the music bounced from one organ to another, just like a tennis ball (and just as fast)! We placed… Read More Bach tennis match?!
Many people know that when it came time to fill the position of Kantor at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, Johann Sebastian Bach was not the town council’s first choice. The city’s leaders originally wanted Georg Philip Telemann, then the music director of Hamburg. But his employers wanted him to stay, and upped his salary as… Read More 3rd choice is not 3rd rate!
I mentioned in my last post that I dedicated my organ recital at St. John’s Episcopal Church—Kula in memory of Dr. John Hanley, his wife, Cancy, and son Paul Hanley. Way back in August 2013, I wrote a post about John’s influence on the procurement of three tracker organs in Hawaii which you can re-read… Read More Remembering John Hanley