Heart wrenching . . . if I had to describe yesterday’s funeral for Denise Dusenberry Ortal-Ballaibe, that’s what I’d say. I would also call it tragic—Denise died on December 15, 2016 at the age of 54 from ovarian cancer—too young and too soon. She was a long-time member of the Lutheran Church of Honolulu—from 1987… Read More Heart wrenching
It’s a musician’s worst nightmare… being in the middle of a concert and the lights go completely black! Yes, it happened in Kona last night, right after the Kona Choral Society had performed the Hallelujah Chorus, and we were in the middle of “Worthy is the lamb.” All of a sudden, the house lights started to… Read More …and then the lights went OUT!
Karl Bachman remarked to me, “It’s so Carl!” when he heard the chant Ubi caritas sung in procession from the courtyard at last Sunday’s All Saints Day concert in memory of Carl Crosier. The concert began with seven peals from the courtyard bell, then the slow procession of the Lutheran Church of Honolulu Choir and the Hawaii Vocal… Read More It’s so Carl!
Maybe you’ve seen this picture shared around the internet lately, with the question, “Have you ever just stopped and realized that if you hadn’t met a certain person, your entire life would be completely different?” For sure, when I met Carl Crosier, my musical repertoire became much more focused on the works of Bach, as… Read More Continuing the tradition
Okay, I can just hear my late husband, Carl, saying: Kathy, why don’t you check these things instead of being in such a hurry?! You’re in too much of a rush and aren’t careful!” What I’m referring to was my last post about the All Saints Day memorial concert, November 1, 2015 at the Lutheran Church… Read More I can hear him now!
It was Carl Crosier’s idea that I play Bach’s monumental six-voice chorale motet, Aus tiefer Not from the Clavierübung, Part III as the encore for my first Great Eighteen Chorales concert. In previous posts, I mentioned that this is one of my favorite pieces, and one that I wanted played at my funeral. “But Kathy,… Read More A cool encore
bit·ter·sweet adjective being at once bitter and sweet; especially : pleasant but including or marked by elements of suffering or regret Over and over again, I heard the term bittersweet in reference to my last Sunday service as Organist at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu. I guess people were sad that I had come to the end… Read More Bittersweet