Wh-a-a-t? I’m not on an organ tour anymore, where we typically visit three churches a day, but I’ve been chauffeuring my sister’s duo (The Braeded Chord) to various church venues for their gigs. On Thursday, they joined the jazz ensemble at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in a Jazz Vespers where The Rev. Diane Martinson, my… Read More Six churches in four days!
Last Thursday, my sister, Doris Au MacDonald and her musical partner, Sharon Dennis, (aka The Braeded Chord) arrived for a 12-day concert tour in Hawaii. I can hardly believe that it has been ten years since their last tour here—it was at that time they introduced the Alleluia Mass setting of the communion service to the congregation… Read More The Braeded Chord in Hawaii week
One of my students is giving his very first organ recital—Steven Richardson Severin will play on the Sunday after Easter, April 8 at 2:00 pm at Central Union Church. However, he is no novice; he came to me with Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in piano and decided to make the switch to organ. As Karl… Read More Like a duck to water
Totally at home. That’s how I felt last night sitting at the fabulous Flentrop organ at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Berkeley. In fact, I told George Emblom, the church’s music director, that I felt like I had more and better practice than I did at home—no interruptions, not having to stop to give a… Read More Totally at home
Did you see the article written by Simon Jenkins in The Spectator? It could not have come at a more opportune time in this period of grieving and loss of a music program in Honolulu. The title is intriguing: Why cathedrals are soaring: The Church of England’s unexpected success story. Click here to read the entire… Read More Cathedral music is “hot”!
Last night could only be described in one word: nightmare. You see, I was accompanying the Hawaii Masterworks Festival chorus in their first performance of the Fauré Requiem and my music would not stay open! That meant that every few seconds, I would need to take whatever hand was free at the moment to swat the… Read More Desperate measures needed!
This is the last weekend before I board the plane for 40 days away from Honolulu, and what a weekend it will be! Nine organ lessons, one piano lesson, two church services, one orchestra rehearsal and two concerts all crammed into the next four days. And today in addition to teaching three other organ lessons, I played a… Read More In the space of one weekend …
So while the weekend has not quite arrived yet, it is the beginning of two crazy, busy weekends where I will play NINE services in just TWO weekends! As I write this, I’m in fact on the way to Honolulu International Airport to pick up Maui organist Clayton Logue who will be my houseguest and… Read More Nine services in two weekends!
People have asked me about my “vacation,” and I feel like saying, “I need a vacation from my vacation!” or “I need to come back to work to relax!” In a nutshell, during my 30 nights away from Hawaii: At the Boston Early Music Festival, I attended two Monteverdi operas, the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610,… Read More Digging out from under
It was another adventure coming home from the Organ Historical Society convention 2015, and because my flight was leaving Boston early in the morning, I decided to leave one day before the convention ended. Lucky for me, I was able to watch the OHS live-webcast of the final concert by Nathan Laube on the organs… Read More Home at last!