Will they or won’t they? What I’m talking about is my Easter Day postlude this year—I will be playing an arrangement of Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus for organ and three trumpets, no choir. Tradition has it that people stand for the Hallelujah Chorus, because “it’s tradition.” At the end of the service, the pastor gives the… Read More Will they? Or won’t they?
It’s been forty years (gasp!) since I wrote my first annual Christmas letter, The Crosier Chronicle, a yearly recap of my family’s adventures. The reason I know it’s been forty years since that first Chronicle is that 1982 was the year my son, Stephen, was born and this past November, he celebrated his 40th birthday… Read More Forty years!
Last week, I was tasked with trying to find an image for Early Music Hawaii’s last concert of the season, “From Venice to Dresden,” which will feature the music of Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672). Here was the text I was given by Ian Capps, President: Heinrich Schütz was the most prominent of many German composers who… Read More From Venice to Dresden
I usually get a draft of the service order a few weeks ahead where I find out what the hymns and other musical parts of the service are going to be. I submit titles of my organ voluntaries for the prelude, introit and postlude on Mondays for the following Sundays. I then get a draft… Read More Like catching fastballs
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?
Today is February 14, Valentine’s Day, but in my mind it’s already Lent, even though Ash Wednesday is this coming Wednesday, February 17. Huh? Did I miss something? I thought Lent BEGINS with Ash Wednesday? Well, yes it does, but for me, I have already recorded the organ music for February 21, the first Sunday… Read More It’s Lent, already!
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
When the pandemic forced many churches to cancel in-person services, it changed everything. Many churches switched to livestreaming their services. Instead of driving to a church building and sitting down in a pew, parishioners instead turned on their computers or tablets or phones and watched the priest or pastor give a sermon, the organist play… Read More A whole new ballgame
With the coronavirus pandemic has come a whole new vocabulary. I mean, a year ago would you have known any of these terms: social distancing, N95 face mask, in-person, flatten the curve, sharing droplets, PPE (Personal protection equipment), telehealth, zoomers, virtual services, hydroxychloroquine! Many churches chose to livestream or pre-record their services, since indoor crowds… Read More Copyright and Public domain