I am now at the gate at Kona Airport, having just finished the performance of Handel Messiah with the Kona Choral Society. I had forgotten how many notes fly by in the course of even doing the Christmas portion, plus the “Worthy is the Lamb” and “Amen” choruses. I mean, by even blinking you risk… Read More A whole lotta notes!
Already when the Kona Choral Society concert did not start until 4:06, and especially, when it was not until 4:45 when Susan McCreary Duprey gave the downbeat of Handel Messiah, I was worried about getting to the airport for my 6:53 pm flight, knowing that the airport was a half hour drive away. Getting out… Read More Whew! Just made it!
Five years ago I was diagnosed with wet macular degeneration, necessitating monthly visits to my retina specialist for an injection directly into my eye. Many times I’m lucky, and am not affected by this monthly assault on my eyeball, but other times my eye protests with pain and excessive tearing. If you’ve ever scratched your… Read More The show must go on …
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 …
This past weekend I was on the Big Island of Hawai’i with the Kona Choral Society. In past years, I had complained that the audience clapped after every movement in the Handel Messiah, and I was wondering whether they would do the same this year. Lo and behold, I turned to this page in the… Read More They read the program! (mostly)
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!
A few days ago I posted some pictures on Facebook of my dining room as it is decorated during this Advent season which I called “Blue Christmas.” Even though I will be away for two weeks in California for the Christmas holidays, I still wanted to decorate my apartment since I will be holding a number… Read More Feeling blue
“I hate this piece!” That’s what one of my organ students told me at her lesson yesterday, not just once, but several times.”I hate this piece! It’s just so hard!” Yes, this is a difficult piece for an organist to play, but one of those “must learn, must do” pieces for organists, since so many… Read More “Hallelujah” Chorus
It has been more than a week since I returned to Honolulu from my wonderful Italy trip, and I’m having the hardest time getting back to this time zone! In spite of the fact that I played the Bernstein Chichester Psalms in a concert on Friday night and attended a fabulous Hawai‘i Symphony concert on Saturday night,… Read More Allora … getting back to HNL time!
I thought by now I would be settling in to a nice retired life, watching soap operas and eating chocolate bon-bons, and scheduling only events like a few organ lessons, meals and naps, and then you know what happened — I received an email message from Miguel Felipe saying, “I’ve had you on my mind recently. . . ”… Read More Beware of lunch invitations!