It was another of those crazy weekends requiring me to shift gears quickly for the music at hand: A rehearsal with the Early Music Hawaii ladies for their dress rehearsal for “Triumph Against the Odds;” a concert with the Iolani School Chorus and Hokuloa Singers (John Alexander, director) in which I played a Mozart orchestral… Read More Three choirs in three days … and more!
Sunday’s concert by the Windward Choral Society marked the tenth anniversary of this choir, and it was on all accounts, a total triumph! This, in spite of the fact that “90% of the people don’t read music” according to director Susan McCreary Duprey. Here’s the letter that she wrote to the singers, ringers and orchestra: Mahalo… Read More Windward Choral Society triumph
It must be Spring Concert Season! [DISCLAIMER] I am only personally involved in three of these concerts and this is by no means a comprehensive list of concerts in Hawaii! For example, it does not include the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra concerts even though I have season tickets and will most probably be in the audience,… Read More If it’s May …
I have been home scarcely two days and jet lag has hit me hard—as it always does. There’s no problem going east in spite of having no sleep on the plane, but coming home is a different story! I arrived in Honolulu about 3:30 pm on Tuesday, with a 3 hour stop in San Francisco… Read More John Alexander’s Requiem
You know the story of Cinderella, right? It’s the story of a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances, who gets to dance with the prince at the ball, then loses her glass slipper. If you check Wikipedia, Cinderella can be an analogy which can mean: “one whose attributes were unrecognized, or one who unexpectedly achieves… Read More Cinderella night
In the last four days, I have attended three concerts and gotten my chance to be an audience member. I used to remember Carl Crosier saying that as performers it was our job to make it Christmas for everyone else—now I’ve had my chance to hear someone else’s hard work. On Sunday, I was at the… Read More ‘Tis the season, part 2
Last Sunday night I attended the “Cantate” concert by the Lutheran Church of Honolulu Choir and Men’s Schola; Wednesday I went to hear the St. Andrew’s Priory girls’ concert; tomorrow night I’ll be playing in the Iolani School Chorus concert; and Saturday night I’ll be at the Hawai’i Symphony concert! ‘Tis the season! Scott Fikse… Read More Spring concert season
Tonight was the Iolani School’s Winter Concert for the Hokuloa Singers and Chorus, and we had a closed circuit television set up on the organ console so I could see the conductor, John Alexander. It consists of a video camera connected to a television monitor and it has worked extremely well in the past—there is no delay in… Read More Technology – BAH, HUMBUG!
As you may remember from my recent post, “An early Christmas miracle,” I served as the co-chair for my building’s holiday party which happened on Monday. In the morning, in spite of getting lost and spending a half hour needlessly driving in circles, I picked up 28 tablecloths from a party rental business. I had the… Read More Loaves and fishes
Last Sunday I found myself back in the Chorus Room at Iolani School doing, what else, accompanying the Iolani School Chorus and Hōkūloa Singers in rehearsal for their upcoming concert, “The Long and Winding Road,” this Friday, May 13th at 7:30 pm, which will be held at St. Andrew’s Cathedral. It’s an opportunity to hear… Read More Back to school at the Cathedral