It’s been a week since I returned home from South America, and after a horrible week of trying to adjust back to this time zone (there’s a difference of 7 hours between Argentina and Hawaii), I’ve now jumped right in and immersed myself in the music for the next Early Music Hawaii concert, “William Byrd:… Read More Immersed in Byrd
Yesterday was my monthly eye injection for macular degeneration and while the injection itself went smoothly, my eye started burning when I left my doctor’s office. Not good — as I waited patiently for the music I would be playing today. OF COURSE, I had to have one more task before getting on an early… Read More One last adventure before London
“Vinikour makes a concert an experience, in the very best sense of the word. His playing excites the ear.” (Christian Science Monitor) If you are a Hawaii Symphony subscriber, you know that harpsichordist and conductor, Jory Vinikour, is in Honolulu to perform movements from Handel Messiah and the Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 this weekend,… Read More Jory Vinikour, harpsichordist and conductor
One way my world has opened up recently has been through my Spanish classes. That is to say, I’ve met a lot of non-musicians in my Spanish classes who don’t know the difference between keyboard instruments. Like, what’s the difference between an organ and a piano? What’s a harpsichord? If you can play the piano,… Read More The harpsichord (el clavecín)
(My new companion, C.P.E. Bach!) Since the pandemic, my daily life has started with a 2-1/2 mile walk (during which I listened to Spanish podcasts), 45 minutes of Spanish practice with Duolingo, a one-hour online Spanish class “Cada Dia Spanish”, a 45-minute Zoom conversation in Spanish with Vreni Griffith and/or Cindy Scheinert, two local friends,… Read More My life changed … with one phone call
It was another of those crazy weekends requiring me to shift gears quickly for the music at hand: A rehearsal with the Early Music Hawaii ladies for their dress rehearsal for “Triumph Against the Odds;” a concert with the Iolani School Chorus and Hokuloa Singers (John Alexander, director) in which I played a Mozart orchestral… Read More Three choirs in three days … and more!
I spent the weekend in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii, playing harpsichord in the Early Music Hawaii concert. After a mad dash to the airport after teaching organ lessons on Saturday morning, I arrived in Kona and was taken immediately to the concert venue, the Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, where the rehearsal… Read More Out of my comfort zone
I just finished playing my last gig for the Christmas season, Iolani School’s Winter Concert at St. Andrew’s Cathedral. Even though I have officially “retired” from playing daily chapels at the school, John Alexander invited me to play the Cathedral organ for the opening and closing numbers for the concert — I guess because the instrument… Read More Concerts, oboes and organs
This week was the annual visit of Carey Beebe, who takes care of all the harpsichords in Hawaii on his way back home to Australia from the Carmel Bach Festival. He not only tuned the two harpsichords in my condo (Zuckermann and Neupert) among others here in Hawaii, but also the Cammack harpsichord at the Lutheran… Read More Magic from the harpsichord man
Anyone want to play chamber music with me? As some of you saw on my Facebook page, I now have TWO harpsichords and one pipe organ in my apartment, and I was so fortunate that my houseguest, Jason Anderson was here to receive the new baby harpsichord while I was at work. That was because apparently… Read More Chamber music, anyone?