If this had been a normal year, I would have been in Boston now, attending the biennial Boston Early Music Festival as I have done five or six times before. I would be fighting off jet lag and trying to keep my eyes open during the opening opera, “Le Carnaval de Venise,” although dazzled by… Read More Virtual BEMF
This coming week I will be playing the first of several end-of-the-year events for St. Andrew’s Priory School, starting with Ascension Day, the school’s traditional Founders Day event. St. Andrew’s Priory School was founded on Ascension Day, May 30, 1867, by Queen Emma, wife of King Kamehameha IV, and Mother Priscilla Lydia Sellon of the… Read More Getting back to “normal” — almost!
The following post in the Facebook Organists Association page elicited many responses: Anthony Williams wrote: I have a question for the church musicians. Are you using brass for Easter? Usually, we have a brass quartet, however, with the pandemic we are deciding tonight whether or not to use brass. Any thoughts or suggestions would be… Read More Brass on Easter?
Everyone knows that this Christmas is going to be different — all because of the pandemic. For one thing, this will be the first time in eight years that I will not be leaving Hawaii at Christmas. Yes, it’s true, since 2012 I have spent all my Christmases in California (except for three years ago,… Read More A different kind of Christmas
Many churches have not been able to hold in-person worship services during the pandemic and have turned to technology to keep us together. Church musicians have stepped up to the challenge and have become film producers, concerned not only with the music-making, but also video production, creating virtual choir performances, in essence, they have had… Read More Video wizardry
From time to time, I’m asked about how many Hawaiian words I know, now that I’ve lived on Oahu since 1973 (forty-seven years)! I mean, you’re bound to pick up some of the lingo in common usage, and even people who have never been to Hawaii know the meaning of “aloha” and “mahalo.” Aloha is… Read More Aloha and mahalo
Last Sunday, I spent the morning at Nuuanu Congregational Church where they honored organist Jieun Kim Newland for her several years of service. It was one of the first services in which the church has resumed in-person services. Everyone had their temperature taken before entering the church and every other pew was blocked off. There… Read More Social distancing
When I first heard the term “flunking retirement,” I thought it was a phrase made up by Betsy McCreary to describe her husband, the late (and great!) organist-choirmaster of St. Andrew’s Cathedral and my predecessor as Chapel Organist at Iolani School, John McCreary. That is because after a long and illustrious career at St. Andrew’s… Read More Flunking retirement