When I first heard the term “flunking retirement,” I thought it was a phrase made up by Betsy McCreary to describe her husband, the late (and great!) organist-choirmaster of St. Andrew’s Cathedral and my predecessor as Chapel Organist at Iolani School, John McCreary. That is because after a long and illustrious career at St. Andrew’s… Read More Flunking retirement
Even though the use of the organ in some churches is passé, there still seems to be a need for organists in others. And it seems that organists are on their way of going the way of the dodo bird, or the dinosaur. So when an organist goes on vacation, or needs to have surgery,… Read More Desperately. Seeking. Organists!
Today I was the guest organist at Kilohana Methodist Church, and when I walked in, I felt like I was walking into a lion’s den. You see, it has been just about forty years that I’ve played a service in a non-liturgical church. I was organist/director at Holy Nativity Episcopal Church when I moved to… Read More Into the lion’s den
Organists don’t retire — they just keep substituting! Even before the tragic event of her husband’s death, Margaret Lloyd had contracted me to play the 7 am service at Central Union Church some time ago since she was still going to be on the mainland. This is the same service that two of my students,… Read More Organists don’t retire . . .
St. Theresa . . . St. Christopher . . . St. Clement . . . St. Andrew. No, I’m not reciting a random list of saints — this is the list of churches for which I have been asked to substitute as organist since “retiring” last Christmas. Someone once said, “Organists never die; they just… Read More A litany of saints