Undoubtedly you’ve heard of one-name celebrities — people who are recognizable by just their first name — such as Cher and Beyoncé. If there is ever a person in the organ world that could go only by one name and be universally recognized, it’s Joey Fala, who I see changed his FaceBook persona to just… Read More One name organist
That is the message I texted to my former student, Joey Fala, when he directed me to the New York City chapter American Guild of Organists website where I saw this: Joey said that his local Eastern New York AGO chapter didn’t have enough applicants to hold a competition, but they were generous to give… Read More (Screams of delight!)
There were twenty-two (count ’em!) pieces of music in tonight’s Maundy Thursday service, and there would have been twenty-three had the footwashing not been so efficient. We unfortunately had to cut “Ubi caritas” by Maurice Duruflé because no more music was needed during the footwashing rite. Here is the repertoire: Organ Prelude: O Lamm Gottes… Read More Maundy Thursday marathon
Sunday, January 8th was the Baptism of Christ and I programmed two settings of “Christ, unser Herr, zum Jordan kam” by J. S. Bach. They were both from a collection called “Clavierübung” or “keyboard practice,” which is sometimes referred to as Bach’s German Organ Mass because there are chorale preludes on the Ordinary — the… Read More Amazing coincidences
That was Miguel Felipe’s assessment of tonight’s first choir rehearsal, and we are well on our way! The night before, he met the 8:00 am ensemble for their monthly rehearsal, but I didn’t attend. I was very glad that nearly everyone was seated and ready to go at 6:55 pm, which is absolutely remarkable! The… Read More ‘The ship has left the harbor’