Our first stop today was at the St Urban Zisterzienserkloster (Cistercian) Monastery Church which is a sight to behold from the time you approach the intricately-carved doorway. Open the door and your eyes are greeted with a massive kaleidoscope of white and gold —almost too much to take in. Can you imagine coming to church… Read More Organs galore!
That’s how I would classify the spectacular organs and churches we visited today, especially the Jesuitenkirche in Solothurn, Switzerland. The building itself is extremely tall inside with huge portraits accentuating the height of the building. The organ was built in 1794 and has remained largely the same, without alteration. It was restored in 1953 by… Read More Absolutely over the top!
It’s Day Six of the 2018 Historic Organ Study Tour and we saw and heard four fine organs today but what impressed me the most today was an empty church—the site of the former Abbey at Payerne. The Romanesque building was as old as the 11th century and at one time served as a bell… Read More An empty church
“You want me to sit WHERE?” I asked incredulously. “Yes, sit on the right side of the bench. You’ll have an easier time of it!” All these years I have sat in the middle of the organ bench and all these years I have told my organ students to always sit in the same place… Read More Discombobulated
Yesterday when we were at the Temple du Lutry, I saw this sign posted on the side of the organ: I guess it’s the same everywhere—people talk while the organist is playing and it is SO distracting! I don’t know why it is the sound of the organ that encourages people to engage in conversation… Read More It’s the same everywhere!
And I am a zombie! Even though my plane left at 7:00 am Honolulu time, I had been awake since 2:59 am as my taxi picked me up at 4:45 am. Seems every time I know I have to wake up early, I set my alarm and end up waking up an hour before it… Read More 28 hours to Lausanne
On this last day of the Historic Organ Study Tour we were scheduled to visit the Chiesa di Sant’Agostino but in the words of our director, Bruce Stevens, “only one lady had the key to the church, and she is having surgery today, therefore the church is locked, and no one can enter the church.”… Read More Finally! Organs I can play!
We left the Hotel Villa Argentina this morning and stopped at the Chiesa di San Martino in Valle di Cadore, 21 miles away. You can clearly see this church from the main highway but because our bus could not navigate the narrow roads around the church, we had to walk to it from about 1/4… Read More Frustration
With a leisurely Sunday morning I took the opportunity to take pictures of my gorgeous surroundings near the hotel. Our bus took off in the opposite direction as yesterday—towards ever higher ground with many switchbacks. If there is anything I will remember about today, it is all the winding but picturesque mountain roads we traveled… Read More Mountain roads
After finishing breakfast, I walked around our hotel and with every step I took, I couldn’t resist taking pictures of the spectacular mountain scenery. This area has got to be one of the most gorgeous places on earth! Today the Historic Organ Study Tour took us to churches in the vicinity of our hotel in the Cadore… Read More Amid spectacular scenery…