I opened my eyes, looked at my phone and could not believe what I saw—9:33 am! Aaaaurgh! I was supposed to have been on the bus at 8:00! I quickly showered, dressed and walked four blocks to the train station. The next train to Geneva was at 10:12 am and it was already 10:10! I… Read More Missed the bus!
The Abbey of St Peter and St Paul, Romainmôtier Today on the first day of the 2018 Historic Organ Study Tour we saw three organs in the village of Romainmôtier (called the most beautiful village in Switzerland!) and one in Moudon, but it was two “home” organs which made the biggest impression on me. The… Read More “Home” organs no more
I thought by now you must be a little tired hearing about all the churches and organs we have been discovering and playing on the Historic Organ Study Tour, so this post will be a little different. This morning we left the Treviso area and traveled to the northeastern part of Italy called the Dolomites,… Read More A Dolomite feast
Our appointment to see the Chiesa dell’Ospedaletto fell through which gave us on the Historic Organ Study Tour an opportunity to do something else beside see organs. Several of us walked about a block to the Accademia, where one of the most famous art collections is housed right on the Grand Canal. I think… Read More A change of plan
If you are an organist in Venice, you can’t be afraid of climbing ladders or have a fear of heights. Otherwise you’d never be able get to the organ console. We walked to the first church we visited today, within a block of our hotel—the Chiesa di San Trovaso where the Gaetano Callisto organ dates… Read More Climbing ladders
I have just awakened at my hotel in Venice, Italy, and it’s 4:30 am, my usual time for starting the day—except that Italy is exactly twelve hours “off” from Honolulu, which means that I am completely upside-down! I left Hawaii on Friday afternoon and had a nice visit with Joey Fala’s mom, Patsy, who took… Read More Already on Italy time! (What jet lag?!)
I’ve been home now for three days and am having a miserable time with jet lag. My first night, I didn’t arrive into Honolulu until 10:30 pm, and by the time I retrieved my luggage, it was after 11:00 pm when I tried to sleep. Mind you, I had been awake since 6:30 am London… Read More Duty calls …
I have returned home now, and no matter what my connections, that trip back to Hawaii is l-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-n-g! (over 24 hours). The only thing I regret is that I left my jacket at Charles de Gaulle Paris airport security, and didn’t realize it until I started getting cold on the plane. By the time I… Read More Sights and sounds of Lorraine and environs
Someone on the Historic Organ Study Tour (HOST) asked me, “Did you think that this was a study tour or a playing tour?” and I replied that the reason I signed up for this tour was for the experience of playing all these historic organs. Out of the thirty organs we played on the tour,… Read More HOST insights and miscellany
Today’s visit to the Cathedral Saint Dié was pure joy, not only for us Historic Organ Study Tour visitors, but for the town of Saint Dié-des-Vosges where they would install a new Bishop a couple hours after our visit. You see, the building was left in ruins following a devastating bomb attack on November 9, 1944.… Read More The old made new again