The following is a speech I gave at the Oahu Choral Society’s Vivace! fundraising dinner as the 2018 Dale Noble Award Honoree. Thank you. When I was first called about this award, my first reaction was “ you have got to be kidding! I mean, is this a mistake?” I’m not a person who is… Read More Aw, shucks!
https://youtu.be/0YW-uv3Ibm8 Since I grew up without television, I had never watched the show, “Queen for a Day,” which began as a radio show in 1945 then ran on NBC Television from 1956-1960 and on ABC from 1960-1964. Every show began with the question, “Would YOU like to be Queen for a day?” A number of… Read More Queen for a Day
It was months and MONTHS ago that Jeremy Wong asked me to be part of a baroque concert with the University of Hawaii Chamber Singers—in fact, I think it was while I was on some European trip last summer, and I thought, sure, fine, no problem! It was only after I was asked about being… Read More Voices of the Baroque
Last Sunday, I went to the Hawaii Opera Theatre’s production of Donizetti’s “Daughters of the Regiment,” and what I absolutely loved was the famous tenor aria, “Ah! Mes amis, quel jour de fête!” which features NINE high Cs. The whole opera was characterized by Honolulu Star Advertiser reviewer Ruth O. Bingham as “lighthearted entertainment featuring spectacular… Read More Tenor High Cs
Hey, want to have a sneak peek at what I’m going to be wearing on Saturday, March 3rd? Some of you may have seen my Facebook page about Ala Moana Shopping Center, where I’ve been going a lot lately. Business Insider has recently named Ala Moana the most valuable mall in America, with nearly $6 billion… Read More Sneak peek!
Tidings of Comfort & Joy: Christmas with OCS is the title of the Oahu Choral Society’s annual Christmas concert this coming Saturday, December 9, 2017 at 7:30 pm at St. Andrew’s Cathedral. I was actually contracted for this concert way back in October and did not know until today (4 days before the concert) what I was going… Read More Tidings of Comfort & Joy
Lately my Sunday morning routine is to do my usual 2 mile walk, and then return home to watch a livestream of Evensong from Duke University Chapel where former student Joey Fala is the Organ Scholar.Today’s anthem was Benjamin Britten’s “Rejoice in the Lamb,” considered one of the “warhorses” of the choral repertoire and one with… Read More The Lamb “warhorse”
Operation Babylift. If you are as old as I am (ahem!), you probably have heard the term “Operation Babylift.” But if you’re still a spring chicken, and aren’t old enough to know what it was, I can tell you that it was the name of a mass evacuation of children at the end of the Vietnam War in… Read More Operation Babylift
Quick study Bach. There’s an oxymoron for you. Why, just recently I heard myself saying to a student, “You cannot cram Bach! It just doesn’t work!” That is, when I’ve heard people try to learn a work of Bach on short notice, more often than not, they panic and the performance falls apart. Believe me, unfortunately… Read More Quick study Bach
In spite of the fact that the Oahu Choral Society scheduled its performance of the Verdi Requiem on a Thursday night, (and the Thursday before Palm Sunday at that!), there was certainly a decent audience. (Don’t they know that God made Thursdays for choir practice!) I invited my organist colleague, Elizabeth Wong, to share a… Read More Verdi Requiem