Yesterday afternoon I attended “A Concert for Ukraine,” a benefit presented by Hawai‘i Vocal Arts Ensemble, conducted by Timothy Carney with special guest, baritone Leon Williams at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu. It was the second benefit concert by the group—the first was held at St. John Lutheran Church the night before. The chorus was… Read More Dona nobis pacem
Nobody listens to CDs anymore. My son actually said these words to me nine years ago, when we were remodeling our condo and had a contractor build us a huge entertainment cabinet which had storage for an astounding 32 custom-built shelves for compact disc storage, in addition to display shelves for our glassware collection, and… Read More End of an era
To follow up on the post I wrote about musical prodigy Alma Deutscher, the person in the 60 Minutes segment was indeed my former student, Robert (Bob) Gjerdingen, who is now a music professor at Northwestern University. It was only a matter of hours that he responded to my post with the comment, “Dear Katherine,… Read More Organ connections
Yesterday we were in Tacoma, WA, and took in an all-Bach organ recital at Christ Episcopal Church, where we heard Tomoko Miyamoto from Ferris University in Yokohama, Japan, play selections from Bach’s Clavierübung III, the German organ mass. The tracker organ is by John Brombaugh and is in a lovely acoustic. We found out about the concert through… Read More Bach in Tacoma
What would Bach do? That was my reaction to last night’s concert—the Bach Collegium Japan’s performance of the St. Matthew Passion. Even though I’m afraid I was left with more questions than answers, this performance was certainly memorable. The fact is that here we were, nearly 300 years after the date of the work’s composition,… Read More A surprising performance
We are here! After an 8 hour flight to Chicago, a 6 hour layover, an 8 hour flight to Frankfurt, and a 4 hour train ride to Leipzig, we are settled into our hotel. We are feeling human again thanks to a hot shower, good night’s sleep and a hearty German breakfast. This morning we… Read More Arrival in Leipzig
There was a private reception with the Bach Collegium Japan after the concert. I’m so glad Carl bought the type of ticket which allowed us entrance into the private reception after the Bach Collegium Japan’s Mass in B Minor concert! He had brought along his copy of their Bach B-Minor CD and was able to… Read More VIP Reception with the Bach Collegium Japan
How can I possibly describe a concert that was so filled with musicality, with spirituality, with beauty, with so much JOY?! The Bach Collegium Japan’s performance of the Mass in B-Minor was utter perfection in so many ways. The choir was pure heaven, with just four per part, and incredibly well-blended. Every section of the… Read More The experience of a lifetime
After a hearty breakfast in the hotel, we picked up the car and drove straight to Valparaiso University. We made a beeline for the Chapel of the Resurrection, where the concert will be held tonight. Once inside, we could see a few people setting up the stage area, which will be directly in front of… Read More The Chapel of the Resurrection
With these words on the Bach Collegium Japan‘s FaceBook page, Carl and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. That means that the group has landed safely in Michigan where they will present their first concert on this U.S. tour. We were worried that they might cancel their trip, given the horrific situation in Japan… Read More “Bach Collegium Japan is here”