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
After practicing this morning, I took the BART to the very end of the line, Millbrae, where I was picked up and driven to the home of Joe Hansen and Rick Cicinelli. If you go back and read my post about our performance of Bach’s Mass in B Minor in 2011 (“Total triumph“) you will… Read More The solution: trio sonatas!
Last night was Maundy Thursday, and I played the organ at Sacred Heart Church, just two blocks away from the Lutheran Church of Honolulu where I had spent 35 Maundy Thursdays. It well could have been 2,000 miles away in terms of musical style — well, more like 2,000 years away. During the footwashing rite, I must have played at… Read More Maundy Thursday gift
Two of the pieces I’m playing in tonight’s University of Hawaii chorus concert are old friends, but the third, “Credo” from Arvo Pärt’s Missa Syllabica, is completely new and the most challenging for me. Tonight’s program will be held at St. Andrew’s Cathedral at 7:30 pm and will feature parts of the mass all composed by… Read More Tintinnabuli
You’ve probably heard that hearing is the last sense to lose before dying, and hospice nurses encourage you to talk to the person even though they cannot respond. When my mother had a stroke three years ago and was in the hospital, my brother held the phone up to her ear so that I could say… Read More Bach to the end
Apparently the graphic designer for the Oahu Choral Society Bach program and postcards, doesn’t know what BWV stands for when used after the title of a Bach work. It was consistently listed as BMV 232 throughout, so I was trying to figure out that instead of “Bach Werk-Verzeichnis (BWV), maybe he/she thought the concert was… Read More Ear worm Bach II
Before tonight’s rehearsal for the Bach Mass in B-Minor, the orchestra manager said there was going to be an important announcement. Violist Steve Flanter told us that percussionist Steve Dinion, had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma about two months ago and had started intensive chemotherapy. Yesterday, close friends were notified that… Read More A gentle soul, gone too soon
“Bach is not for amateurs!” This was one of the first statements Carl made at his lecture yesterday for the Oahu Choral Society, held at the Kokokahi YWCA. The choir will be preparing Bach’s Mass in B Minor for a performance on May 16th, under the direction of Esther Yoo, and she invited Carl to… Read More Bach is not for amateurs!
If there was one unsung hero throughout our musical career over these many years, it would certainly be Eric Doescher, who along with his wife Linden, did all of the “grunt” work and much, much more for our many endeavors, both personal, music and church-related. Back in March 2011, in my post about the Doeschers I mentioned that… Read More Unsung hero
Many of you readers (hundreds, in fact) attended the Honolulu performances of Bach’s monumental Mass in B minor, in May 2011. Those concerts were dubbed Carl Crosier’s “swan song,” his last concerts as the cantor of the Lutheran Church of Honolulu. There were many stars those two nights, but one clearly stood out — that… Read More Bragle and Bach