If you haven’t been in the nave of the Lutheran Church of Honolulu lately (and who has, since in-person worship services ended mid-March of this year), you might not know that there are now two grand pianos in the nave. One grand piano, a 9′ Steinway, has been there for many years and is on… Read More The story of the Estonia piano
It happened last week, when Mark Wong came to play the service for the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, and there seemed to be a cipher (a note which sounds without being pushed down). A further investigation by Roy Helms, a member of the choir who once worked with organbuilder Paul Fritts, resulted in the discovery… Read More EEK! I smell a rat!
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
Today the Hawaii Tribune-Herald newspaper on the Big Island published a story by Katie Young Yamanaka about our homeboy, Joey Fala, and his upcoming recital at the Higashi Hongwanji Mission, Sunday, March 12th at 3:00 pm. I was surprised that Joey came up with the same analogy as I have previously written about, particularly in regards… Read More Like going into someone else’s kitchen
Last night, I attended Compline at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu which was the first time I’ve been to the service since Carl Crosier sang his last Compline service on August 14, 2011. The weekly service was discontinued in 2012, after Carl’s retirement. I went back and reread my post “Bittersweet Compline” about that 2011 service… Read More Familiar, yet different
On Sunday night, Pastor Jeff Lilley acknowledged the congregation of the Lutheran Church of Honolulu for having the vision and then supporting the vision of a fine music program with a quality tracker organ. And in a Facebook conversation, someone marveled at the sight of the 40-year-old Beckerath — still looking fresh and new and having… Read More The Beckerath B.C. (Before Carl)
Yesterday, one day after the magnificent 40th Anniversary celebration of the Beckerath organ, twenty members of the local chapter of the American Guild of Organists came to “The Marble Palace in the Sky,” (my condo) — for the members’ annual meeting and to see the newest pipe organ in Honolulu: the “box organ” built by… Read More Baby’s coming out party
From all accounts, last night’s 40th anniversary of the Beckerath organ was a grand and glorious occasion and the church should feel extremely proud to have put on a first class act. From Joey Fala’s stunning and magnificent playing, to the energetic congregational singing, to the colorful and elegant 16-page souvenir program, to the delicious… Read More Magnificent Joey!
“Turning point,” “critical moment,” “decisive moment,” “moment of truth,” “pivotal moment” — these are some of the descriptions of the term defining moment — a point in your life when you made a very important decision or had an experience that changed you forever. Even though the term has only been around since 1980-1985, it could well… Read More Defining moment
On Wednesday night, I and a few other folks from LCH attended the Spring Concert of St. Andrew’s Priory choirs conducted by our own Naomi Castro, with Carl Crosier, accompanist. Randy Castello (one of the LCH tenors) turned to me and said, “Did you see the obituary for Pat Chamberlain this week?” In the picture above,… Read More Aloha, Patricia Chamberlain (1926-2012)