This week is my last of “regular” chapel services at Iolani School, and Chaplain Dan Leatherman surprised me yesterday at the 7th-8th grade chapel by calling me out and giving me a lei in front of the whole assembly. Part of the service was a dialogue — the students were asked which person they had most… Read More Ending of an era
Tonight as I was reading my email, I came across the weekly listing of events for St. Andrew’s Cathedral and was surprised to read my name there! On May 8 at 7:30 pm, next week Friday, in the Cathedral, will be ‘Iolani School’s annual Spring Concert with the ‘Iolani Chorus and Hokuloa Singers, featuring John… Read More Change is in the air
It’s Saturday morning, and my usual custom upon waking is to retrieve the daily newspaper hanging on my door. I may be one of those rare persons who turns to the Religion Section on Saturdays first — to find if I recognize an event which I have submitted (Thank you, Pat Gee, and before her, Mary… Read More Hallock, Lamentations of Jeremiah
Over the last twenty years, I have worked with my colleague at Iolani School, choral conductor John Alexander. Up to last year, I accompanied only the Lower School Choir which sings for chapel every Friday, but last year I became the organ accompanist for the entire 150-voice school-wide chorus for their Christmas and Spring concerts. (I still play for the… Read More Honoring John Alexander
From time to time, my late husband, Carl Crosier, used what I deemed “quaint” or “old-fashioned” American expressions. For example, he used to refer to our undeveloped basement in Kaneohe as “the back forty.” When something was not quite right, or askew, he would say that it was “cattywampus.” (In Hawaii, you would say that… Read More Visiting firemen
While I was in Seattle, I got a call from Manny Dayao whom I know from Iolani School, but who was calling in his capacity as Lay Associate for Worship and Music at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. “Kathy, are you available to play at St. Peter’s next Sunday?” meaning May 25th. Knowing that I would be… Read More Babe Ruth at the organ?
Are organists the only musicians who never know what to expect when they have to perform on their instruments? I can’t tell you the number of times I have come to the church and found something not working on the organ. There was the time I was scheduled to play Jeremiah Clarke’s Trumpet Voluntary in… Read More Handicapped!
Ordinarily what I’m going to write about today I wouldn’t consider within the confines of this blog. That is to say, in this particular blog I mostly restrict myself to writing about music, my travels as they relate to music, and musical events. But when I ended my nearly 35-year tenure as Organist of the… Read More Guilty pleasure
This morning, I played for All-School Christmas Chapel in the Lower Gym at Iolani School. The nativity story is narrated by the second grade class, which includes a pageant, interspersed with familiar Christmas carols. Because of my recent post in which I bragged that I could probably play any Christmas carol without looking at the… Read More Tug of war
Along with playing for services, organists are frequently called to accompany choirs. I myself started accompanying choirs when I was fifteen and got my first church job at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Burbank, CA. (I was paid $66.67 a month which included two weekly choir rehearsals plus a Sunday morning service and warmup!) When I entered… Read More Accompanying the choir