The Sunday after Easter is sometimes referred to as Low Sunday. One website described it this way: The word “low” may serve to contrast it with the “high” festival of Easter on the preceding Sunday. Or, the word “low” may be a corruption of the Latin word laudes, the first word of a sequence used in… Read More The week after Easter
It has now been one week of self-isolation and it being a beautiful day, I decided to escape the confines of my apartment to take a walk. As I walked past St. Andrew’s Cathedral, I was struck by the sight of absolutely no cars in the parking lot, something I have never seen before, especially… Read More Sunday morning and COVID-19
This coming Friday night, I’ll be accompanying the Iolani School Chorus and Hokulea Singers in their spring concert under director John Alexander. The opening work is the famous “Hallelujah” Chorus by George Frideric Handel, which you’re more likely to hear at Christmas rather than in Eastertide. I recommend you read “The Glorious History of Handel’s… Read More Messiah at Easter
Fourteen years ago, our Hawai’i Chapter of the American Guild of Organists took a leap of faith when it decided to present organist Paul Jacobs for a concert. I had been absolutely wowed by Paul’s performance at St. Ignatius Loyola in New York City and vowed to have him come to Hawaii for a concert.… Read More A leap of faith
It’s time again for the Annual Organ Concert of the Hawaii Chapter American Guild of Organists and this year’s artist is Yuri McCoy, no stranger to Hawaii. Yuri’s concert will be Sunday, February 25, 2018 at 2:00 pm at Central Union Church, 1660 South Beretania Street. Yuri originally came to Honolulu to earn a graduate… Read More Yuri McCoy, concert organist
In the last four days, I have attended three concerts and gotten my chance to be an audience member. I used to remember Carl Crosier saying that as performers it was our job to make it Christmas for everyone else—now I’ve had my chance to hear someone else’s hard work. On Sunday, I was at the… Read More ‘Tis the season, part 2
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
This afternoon, I will be playing for the St. Andrew’s Priory Class of 2017 Commencement ceremony at St. Andrew’s Cathedral. I remember that it was always one of Carl Crosier’s favorite events of the year—he says it always filled him with such pride and joy. Even though he did not ever actually have a daughter… Read More Tears of happiness
One hundred fifty years ago on Ascension Day, 1867, Queen Emma Kaleleonālani, wife of King Kamehameha IV, founded St. Andrew’s Priory School for Girls. Today’s Ascension Day service combined orchestra, band, choir, organ and congregation to celebrate the school’s founding—and the decibel level in St. Andrew’s Cathedral was so loud that when I played full… Read More How loud is loud?
Tonight I went to the Church of the Crossroads where I attended a memorial service for Frances Viglielmo, a former soprano in the Lutheran Church of Honolulu choir. I mentioned her name once before in my blog post called “Blue and red“, when I wrote about the “defectors”— singers who sang at St. Andrew’s Cathedral for… Read More Aloha, Frances