Last weekend was the 50th anniversary of the dedicatory concerts by McNeil Robinson at the Beckerath organ of the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, which in itself is an auspicious occasion — but whatʻs REALLY SCARY is that I was there in person, fifty years ago! Yikes! There were two dedication concerts, but since so much… Read More Fifty years later
The Sunday after Easter is sometimes referred to as Low Sunday. One website described it this way: The word “low” may serve to contrast it with the “high” festival of Easter on the preceding Sunday. Or, the word “low” may be a corruption of the Latin word laudes, the first word of a sequence used in… Read More The week after Easter
“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”
I have to admit, I went to last night’s choral concert, “Hawai’i’s Choral Legacy” with a sense of obligation rather than just wanting to go. But I ended up completely impressed with both of the featured choral groups, The Purduettes from Purdue University and Na Wai, a local choir in residence at the University of… Read More A wall of sound
When the pandemic forced many churches to cancel in-person services, it changed everything. Many churches switched to livestreaming their services. Instead of driving to a church building and sitting down in a pew, parishioners instead turned on their computers or tablets or phones and watched the priest or pastor give a sermon, the organist play… Read More A whole new ballgame
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!
The decision has been made, and I no longer have to wonder about how to manage not getting coronavirus while on a plane. Today I logged onto the website of my travel agent where I saw this message: Owing to the evolving COVID-19 situation and government travel advisories and restrictions, Trafalgar, Insight Vacations, Costsaver, Brendan… Read More Out of my hands
Last night was the opening Welcome Dinner for the Hawaii Chapter American Guild of Organists, and look at the big crowd we had! People literally came out of the woodwork—and for some people, it’s been DECADES since they have attended a meeting of local organists. (By the way, not everyone was in the picture! Some… Read More They came out of the woodwork!
One constant in our Hawai’i Chapter American Guild of Organist concerts is the “spiel” given by Karl Bachman at intermission to encourage people to give offerings. I always look forward to hearing these little “sermonettes” — filled with humor, and sometimes I’ve gotten a shout-out. Here is an excerpt from yesterday’s concert with Adam Pajan:… Read More A HUGE leap of faith!
61 people “liked” my post when I asked this question on my Facebook page with some photos. Only one person, Susan Haas, seemed to know what I was up to when I showed off my dining table. If you count the number of plates, you will come up with the number nine—which is how many… Read More Guess who’s coming to dinner?