That’s what Iolani School teacher Lisa Preston posted about Joey Fala’s concert last night. “It was positively glorious! What a treat to hear this; if you’re not a fan of organ music, he’d convert you for sure. I was his class adviser for six years, and now he’s all grown up and the rock star… Read More The rock star of the organ world!
Tonight I went to the Church of the Crossroads where I attended a memorial service for Frances Viglielmo, a former soprano in the Lutheran Church of Honolulu choir. I mentioned her name once before in my blog post called “Blue and red“, when I wrote about the “defectors”— singers who sang at St. Andrew’s Cathedral for… Read More Aloha, Frances
Today the Hawaii Tribune-Herald newspaper on the Big Island published a story by Katie Young Yamanaka about our homeboy, Joey Fala, and his upcoming recital at the Higashi Hongwanji Mission, Sunday, March 12th at 3:00 pm. I was surprised that Joey came up with the same analogy as I have previously written about, particularly in regards… Read More Like going into someone else’s kitchen
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!
Last night, I attended Compline at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu which was the first time I’ve been to the service since Carl Crosier sang his last Compline service on August 14, 2011. The weekly service was discontinued in 2012, after Carl’s retirement. I went back and reread my post “Bittersweet Compline” about that 2011 service… Read More Familiar, yet different
This morning we visited five historic churches in Philadelphia, some dating as early as 1761. The first three took place in Roman Catholic parishes, although in the first church, services are only held a few times a year. Organist Matthew Glandorf did an outstanding job on the 1892 Hook & Hastings organ at Holy Trinity… Read More Beautiful historic churches in Philadelphia
I am a hopeless political junkie and we are once again in one of my favorite news cycles —a presidential campaign. I just love the debates, the polls, and the talk shows. And of course there’s a lot of talk about blue states and red states, liberals and conservatives, progressives and establishment. But this weekend, blue and red will… Read More Blue and red
Last Saturday night, I attended the Oahu Choral Society’s 20th Annual “Vivace” fundraiser and was I ever surprised to find myself seated at the head table! To my immediate right was Karen Kennedy, a choral directing legend in this town, and next to her was Wanda Gereben, and next to her was Nola Nahulu of… Read More In with the bigwigs
It was about 6:30 last night that I got a text message from John Renke, organist-choirmaster of St. Andrew’s Cathedral: I’m still sick. Maybe even worse. I want to plan ahead and see what your availability might be. There’s a huge service at 3 o’clock tomorrow afternoon requiring some organ music and two choir (anthems). Are you available… Read More SOS Organist needed!
“Turning point,” “critical moment,” “decisive moment,” “moment of truth,” “pivotal moment” — these are some of the descriptions of the term defining moment — a point in your life when you made a very important decision or had an experience that changed you forever. Even though the term has only been around since 1980-1985, it could well… Read More Defining moment