Karl Bachman remarked to me, “It’s so Carl!” when he heard the chant Ubi caritas sung in procession from the courtyard at last Sunday’s All Saints Day concert in memory of Carl Crosier. The concert began with seven peals from the courtyard bell, then the slow procession of the Lutheran Church of Honolulu Choir and the Hawaii Vocal… Read More It’s so Carl!
When I got into the car this morning, of course public radio came on, and I immediately recognized the music. It was Olivier Messiaen’s Alleluias sereins d’une ame qui desire le ciel (Serene alleluias from a soul who desires heaven) from his Ascension Suite for organ, although the performance was done in an orchestrated version. And then guess what… Read More A taste of heaven
Pastor Jeff Lilley exclaimed, “We used every single chair in the place! We even had to take the chairs from out of my office!” And so the ushers left the door open to the nave, enabling the 25 people who were in the courtyard to hear the concert inside the church, because there were no… Read More SRO Bravissimo!
Tonight I put on a dinner party in the best Crosier tradition and invited the Duruflé/Ferko concert principals—Scott Fikse, director of the Lutheran Church of Honolulu Choir who will be conducting Duruflé’s motet, Ubi caritas, and the world-premiere of Frank Ferko’s Missa O Magne Pater; Tim Carney, director of the Hawai’i Vocal Arts Ensemble who… Read More Just like planning a concert
Today, I drove to Iolani School for chapel, something I did for twenty years, and for the first time, I didn’t play the organ —instead I was the chapel speaker, which was a first! It didn’t feel altogether strange to be in the building since I just played a funeral and the Diocesan Convention Eucharist… Read More Back to school
Imagine my delight when I opened up today’s online edition of our local newspaper, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser! The editors ran the same photo of Carl as appeared in his obituary, one that I had never seen before it was published last year. (The photo was taken by the newspaper photographer who accompanied Steven Mark, staff writer, who… Read More Birthday present
I used to hear people say that after they retired they were were busier than ever before, and don’t know how they used to fit work in! When I so-called “retired” on September 30, I honestly didn’t know how I’d fill my days. I knew that I was going to keep teaching and playing the… Read More Be careful what you wish for!
I recently overheard someone was looking forward to hearing the upcoming Duruflé Requiem but wasn’t so excited about hearing a new work by American composer Frank Ferko (born 1950) which is on the first half of the program. This person was perhaps thinking of the stereotype of “modern music” which is highly dissonant, with no… Read More Not bug music!
When I walked into the choir room at St. Andrew’s Cathedral this morning, and someone asked me how I was doing (presumably because I am supposedly “retired,”) I answered, “Scrambling . . . Not scrambled, like eggs, or my brain, but scrambling.” That’s because it was only Thursday afternoon that I received all the choral… Read More Scrambling
Somehow I just knew last weekend’s concert was going to be a great success, because when Dana Marsh walked into my apartment for the first time last Monday, and we opened the blinds, this is the view that greeted us: The Early Music Hawaii concert, Musica Poetica, is now in the record books as “one… Read More Post-concert decompression