For some reason, the viola has become a butt of many jokes. According to Wikipedia: Viola jokes are jokes directed towards violas and viola players. Viola jokes are thought to have originated in the 18th century, when viola parts were often simple and thus amenable to untalented musicians. Some examples: Pity the poor violist. Except… Read More Not a viola joke
Fantastic Early Music Hawaii concert at LCH tonight! Congratulations and thank you to Scott Fikse for leading the charge, Katherine Crosier and the orchestra for great music and the singers, notably Naomi Castro, Keane Ishii, Karol Nowicki, Sarah Lambert Connelly, Mitchell Moriwaki, Bowe Souza, Taylor Rei Ishida, and Georgine Duncan Stark for a wonderful performance!… Read More Standing ovation for Perfect Purcell
Last Friday night, Early Music Hawaii presented a concert called “Oratorio,” 17th century sacred drama from Rome to Handel, in the reverberant acoustics of St. Theresa’s Co-Cathedral. Some of the town’s very best early musicians participated — and the dress rehearsal with choir and orchestra was held on Thursday night. The personnel for whom this… Read More Double, triple, quadruple!
Last week was a week of calm for me since I wasn’t able to teach any organ lessons — the reason being was that we hosted organbuilder Hans-Ulrich Erbsloeh from Hamburg, Germany and his colleague, Bernharndt Becker, while they replaced the worn pulldowns on the pedals on the Beckerath organ. It turned out to be… Read More A week of calm before the storm