It was back in August that I received a text message from Jeremy Wong, who thought about me as he wrote: Hi Kathy! Hope you’re well. I’m writing because I have been in touch with a documentarian in Germany named Tilo Krause who is producing and directing a huge 24 hour broadcast of Bach from… Read More Gravity Bach
That’s how I felt about this afternoon’s performance of the Bach Mass in B minor by the Hawaii Vocal Arts Ensemble under the baton of Timothy Carney — it was so exhilarating to play Bach in that acoustically live and beautiful space! And the choir, orchestra and soloists certainly rose to the occasion in performing… Read More Pure exhilaration and joy!
From last week’s Evangel, the newsletter from St. Mark’s Episcopal Church: The days are becoming shorter as the sun rises later and the daylight fades earlier. Soon November will be upon us, and we will be celebrating All Hallows-tide. All Hallows, All Saints, and All Souls have been called the fall triduum or three days,… Read More Triple whammy
Yesterday was St. Joseph’s Day (March 19), and as I told my compañeras in my Spanish conversation club, I was going to be sitting at the organ at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, playing a Solemn Mass for St. Joseph. Most often, St. Joseph’s Day (March 19) falls in the season of Lent, and this year… Read More Full organ for St. Joseph’s Day!
I have an upcoming concert on March 21st that I’m spending a lot of my waking hours practicing for, and naturally, the program is all-Bach since March 21st is his 337th birthday. It’s the last concert in a weeklong festival celebrating the pipe organ in Hawaii, and I just sent off the brochure to the… Read More Best thing since sliced bread!
I was very pleasantly surprised this morning to see that a performance of Bach’s Concerto in A minor for four harpsichords was featured in CNN’s 5 Things to know for today for April 9, 2021. When I played the YouTube video by the Netherlands Bach Society, I was immediately transported to the nights of October… Read More Four harpsichord concerto
Today Hans-Ulrich Erbsloeh and I traveled to Lübeck, about 80 km from Hamburg. Our first stop was at a music conservatory (Musikhochschule) which has a Beckerath organ in a see-through case. That is to say that there is plexiglass everywhere so you can see inside—even plexiglass swell shades! This, I assume, is for teaching purposes—what… Read More Plexiglass in the organ!
Many people know that when it came time to fill the position of Kantor at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, Johann Sebastian Bach was not the town council’s first choice. The city’s leaders originally wanted Georg Philip Telemann, then the music director of Hamburg. But his employers wanted him to stay, and upped his salary as… Read More 3rd choice is not 3rd rate!