Glory be, Hallelujah, hallelujah! After months of searching, I am happy to report that the original dedication program for the Rudolf von Beckerath organ at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu has been found! And it was only located 7,209 miles away, in Hamburg, Germany. I just knew someone had to have saved it! Thanks to… Read More Found it —7,209 miles away!
Many people know that when it came time to fill the position of Kantor at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, Johann Sebastian Bach was not the town council’s first choice. The city’s leaders originally wanted Georg Philip Telemann, then the music director of Hamburg. But his employers wanted him to stay, and upped his salary as… Read More 3rd choice is not 3rd rate!
a needle in a haystack something that is almost impossible to find because it is hidden among so many other things For weeks now, I have been looking for something — something I was pretty sure I had, but I simply can’t find it among the stacks of stuff we have. (I daresay we have… Read More A needle in a haystack
Gone but not forgotten … forever in our hearts … in loving memory … rest in peace — these are some of the most popular headstone epitaphs. The challenge is, how do you sum up a person’s life in just a few words? You could even consult the internet, and today I discovered www.yourtribute.com which has sections on… Read More Gone but not forgotten
I mentioned in my last post that I dedicated my organ recital at St. John’s Episcopal Church—Kula in memory of Dr. John Hanley, his wife, Cancy, and son Paul Hanley. Way back in August 2013, I wrote a post about John’s influence on the procurement of three tracker organs in Hawaii which you can re-read… Read More Remembering John Hanley
For the last few days, I’ve been working on the program for the Maui concert I’m doing at St. John’s, Kula on Saturday, March 22nd, at 6:30 pm. The concert will be dedicated to the memory of Dr. John Hanley, his wife Claire Frances “Cancy”, and son Paul Hanley. I was skimpy on some of… Read More Here today, gone to Maui
People have been asking me what my next project will be and that will be a concert on October 19th at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kula, Maui, home to an Oberlinger organ. They are re-dedicating the organ to celebrate its restoration and it was through my Maui organ student, Clayton Logue, that I received the… Read More The man behind the organs
This Sunday, I will be playing selections from François Couperin’s (1668-1733) Mass for the Parishes (Messe des paroisses pour les fêtes solennelles), written when the composer was 21 years old. He had inherited the position of organist at St. Gervais at age 11 when his father died, but did not formally take the position until… Read More Couperin’s Mass for the Parishes
For the last couple of days, we have hosted Hans-Ulrich Erbsloeh and his wife, Christiane from Hamburg, Germany. We were trying to remember how many times Hans has visited Hawaii, and figured it was well over ten times. You see, Hans’ first visit was as the “apprentice” for organbuilder Rudolf von Beckerath when the LCH… Read More Memories of “The Boss”
In a recent email, Miguel Felipe reminded me that this Sunday will be his first hymn mass. For as long as I’ve been at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu (or, at least as long as I can remember!) I have played the organ on the fourth and fifth Sundays of the month at the 8… Read More The Hymn Mass