My friend, Jieun Kim Newland, told me she had been looking forward to the presentation by The Right Rev. Michael Curry at the Association of Anglican Musicians conference because she had read his book — twice — in addition to listening to the audio book version. She found it to be most inspiring and encouraged people… Read More Fangirl!
I admit that I wasn’t too excited to see that the Association of Anglican Musicians had programmed a hymn festival at 9:30 in the morning. At least for me, I generally don’t feel like singing that early in the morning. However, my skepticism turned to pure joy when I found out who was going to… Read More Robert McCormick, brilliant improvisateur
I finally made it to Atlanta after a redeye flight to Los Angeles, a few days with my son’s family, and then another redeye to Atlanta, where tonight is the opening Vespers service of the Association of Anglican Musicians. The greatest thing about attending conferences like this one is the opportunity to compare notes and… Read More On the way to AAM Atlanta
organist superhero noun organist su·per·he·ro ˈsü-pər-ˌhir-(ˌ)ō -ˌhē-(ˌ)rō : someone able to play the organ for church services: a fictional hero having extraordinary or superhuman powers, namely playing organ voluntaries such as preludes and postlude; accompanying congregational hymns and chant by cantors; improvising as necessary to connect various parts of the services; providing music during distribution of Holy Communion; also : an exceptionally… Read More Organist superhero!
No question, the performances at organists’ conventions are the best of the best, AND these performers are at the top of their game. We heard two of best this afternoon, Ken Cowan from Rice University and Peter Sykes from Juilliard and Boston University. Ken Cowan played a gorgeous E. M. Skinner organ (1925/1928) at Trinity… Read More Connections
While my colleagues at the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians (ALCM) were meeting this week for their biennual conference in Philadelphia, look what popped up in my Facebook feed! It was a picture of my husband, Carl, and me with my sister, Doris Au MacDonald and her duet partner, Sharon Dennis (aka The Braeded Chord)… Read More Across the pond(s)
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
Due to jet lag, I’ve been in a cocoon the last ten days after having returned from my European tour. It was a glorious two weeks of seeing magnificent cathedrals, stunning organ cases, eating scrumptious food, getting acquainted with new and old friends as well as enjoying time with family (my two sisters.) Each day… Read More Pure joy!
It’s been a LONG time since I left Honolulu on Sunday night where I flew first to Ka’anapali, Mau’i, for a couple hours, then on to San Francisco, and then to Burbank, California, where I had dinner with my son and his family. Then in spite of leaving early at 7:00 am for an 11:00… Read More C’est magnifique!
And a race to the finish! That pretty much typifies the last week before a trip… but this week things seem particularly frantic. Within the past few days, along with baritone Keane Ishii and Early Music Hawaii President, Ian Capps, we gave a demonstration of early music to over 60 first graders at Pearl City… Read More A flurry of activity