“Masterful.” That was my reaction at Sunday afternoon’s organ recital by James Kealey, the winner of the 2022 American Guild of Organists National Young Artists Competition in Organ Playing. James exploited the colors of the organ, and while sometimes the registrations were a bit boisterous, his playing kept me on the edge of my seat!… Read More “Masterful”
Well … yes. Another way to spin the story! A few days ago, I received an email from Karl Bachman, the organist and music director of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church with the title, “National News.” Last Friday on several television stations there was an article about the Albany, New York airport that was cleaning out… Read More Oahu organist makes the news
People probably don’t know that I was once a Major League Baseball fan in my childhood and I faithfully listened to all the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball games with broadcaster Vin Scully who recently passed away. In baseball, a doubleheader is a set of two games played between the same two teams on the same day. Historically,… Read More Double or triple doubleheader?
The number of organists has dwindled so much that when I wear this T-shirt through airport security, I get comments! Yup, I was wearing this shirt when I went to Kauai last month, and the lady at TSA asked me, “Are you an organist?” (DUH!) “Yes,” I answered. “My brother is an organist.” I didn’t… Read More Remembering Ruth
Matchmaker, Matchmaker,Make me a match,Find me a find,catch me a catchMatchmaker, MatchmakerLook through your book,And make me a perfect match. (From Fiddler on the Roof, by Michele Marsh, Neva Small, and Rosalind Harris) Out of all my activities as an organist and organ teacher in Hawaii, I think my part in playing “matchmaker” is definitely… Read More Matchmaker
From time to time, I have mentioned the name of my Swiss friend, Vreni Griffith. I first noticed her unusual name when I used to stick name labels on our music mailings for the Lutheran Church of Honolulu—that was probably in the early 90s. I later found out “Vreni” was a shortened version of “Varena”… Read More ¡Muchísimas gracias!
A couple of weeks ago I received an email message from the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra with the enticing title: Offer of work with the Hawaii Symphony Alas, it was an invitation to play the organ part of the Albinoni “Adagio” at their concert at The Hawai’i Theatre. Most unfortunately, I would have to turn it… Read More Albinoni on a theatre organ?
When I first heard the term “flunking retirement,” I thought it was a phrase made up by Betsy McCreary to describe her husband, the late (and great!) organist-choirmaster of St. Andrew’s Cathedral and my predecessor as Chapel Organist at Iolani School, John McCreary. That is because after a long and illustrious career at St. Andrew’s… Read More Flunking retirement
It was just about a month ago that I dragged out my sewing machine and started making cloth face masks—an activity which has consumed me 10-12 hours a day for the last few weeks. The motivation for sewing masks came from my son and daughter-in-law, who complained that the Los Angeles mayor had mandated the… Read More From Honolulu with love …
While the numbers of people were few, the enthusiasm was unmistakable of those who were brave enough to come out to a concert in these frightening times of the coronavirus pandemic. There was no problem keeping a “social distance” from other audience members in the large sanctuary. I’m speaking about yesterday’s absolutely phenomenal organ recital… Read More WOW! Absolutely phenomenal!