Word has been received that Andrew Eckard has lost his battle with a brain tumor. From the time he joined the Honolulu Symphony in 1996 as Associate Principal Cellist, Drew was also a member of the Bach Chamber Orchestra and played for nearly all of our performances. The last one was in May 2011 when… Read More RIP Andrew Eckard
Those of you who attended the Mass in B Minor performances at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu in May 2011 (and there were hundreds of you!) surely will not forget the heart-stopping and “time standing still” performance by mezzo-soprano, Meg Bragle and her poignant rendition of the “Agnus Dei.” For many listeners, her performance was… Read More Happy memories
My husband, Carl, just came back from a ten-day business trip to Philadelphia and Boston but took the opportunity to meet up with some long-lost friends — some of whom he had not seen in DECADES and all who had some connection to the Lutheran Church of Honolulu and its music program. When he found… Read More Reaching into the distant past
I don’t know whether it’s the fact that we live on an island, or whether it’s a sign of modern life, but it seems like we are always saying ‘goodbye’ to someone. Certainly over the years, the personnel in the choir has changed greatly, as well as the people in the congregation. Some of those… Read More Always saying goodbye
Last night was the final event of the BachFest Leipzig 2012–the great Mass in B-minor performed by the English Concert. It was obvious that this was a very familiar and beloved piece to many in the audience. The man sitting next to us “conducted” the whole piece throughout and mouthed all the words to the… Read More The greatest work ever
As some of you know, I write two blogs: one about the goings-on from the Music Department of the Lutheran Church of Honolulu (Another Year of Insanity) and the other, about Burbank High School Class of 1968. This will be the first (and maybe the one and only!) time that I will post the very… Read More A funeral, then a wedding
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eChEWK_4B3Q] I found this excellent performance of Cantata 191 from the J. S. Bach Foundation (http://www.bachstiftung.ch/) on YouTube. Each month, one of Bach’s over 200 cantatas is performed in the town of Trogen, Switzerland. On Christmas Eve at LCH, there will be two fifteen-minute cantatas presented with orchestra in the half-hour before the late… Read More Bach to the familiar
Here’s what Miguel Felipe wrote to the Concert Committee members: I was just by the church this afternoon and you can still feel the energy in the air: this weekend was a huge success! This past weekend we welcomed nearly 320 audience members into our sanctuary for a beautiful concert with many notable elements: a fine… Read More A huge Mozart success
We have just now received word that our May 13-14 performances of Bach’s monumental Mass in B Minor were a success in every way — we knew that they were an artistic triumph, but now we have just learned that we not only broke even — we ended up about $4908 over the top! What… Read More A miracle by any measure
This is the post that I knew one day would have to be written. I just didn’t know it would be today. I had already made plans to fly to California to be with our son, Stephen, as he was to undergo gall bladder surgery. This morning, though, I received a call from my brother,… Read More Dorothy Chiu Au, 1917-2011