In spite of the fact that the Oahu Choral Society scheduled its performance of the Verdi Requiem on a Thursday night, (and the Thursday before Palm Sunday at that!), there was certainly a decent audience. (Don’t they know that God made Thursdays for choir practice!) I invited my organist colleague, Elizabeth Wong, to share a… Read More Verdi Requiem
It’s a musician’s worst nightmare… being in the middle of a concert and the lights go completely black! Yes, it happened in Kona last night, right after the Kona Choral Society had performed the Hallelujah Chorus, and we were in the middle of “Worthy is the lamb.” All of a sudden, the house lights started to… Read More …and then the lights went OUT!
Our community has been hit with a terrible loss and I feel I can be silent no more. I would like to share this letter from Naomi Castro, on learning the news that John Renke will be leaving St. Andrew’s Cathedral: If you haven’t heard the news already, it is with a heavy heart that… Read More A time for grieving
Talk about choral music in Hawaii, and I bet the first name that comes to mind is Wanda Gereben, who was honored at last night’s gala 50th anniversary celebration of the Honolulu Chorale. I wrote about Wanda a couple of years ago (“50 Years of Choral Music in Hawaii.”) as the person who organized “The Big… Read More It’s a Wanda-ful World
It has been more than a week since I returned to Honolulu from my wonderful Italy trip, and I’m having the hardest time getting back to this time zone! In spite of the fact that I played the Bernstein Chichester Psalms in a concert on Friday night and attended a fabulous Hawai‘i Symphony concert on Saturday night,… Read More Allora … getting back to HNL time!
I thought by now I would be settling in to a nice retired life, watching soap operas and eating chocolate bon-bons, and scheduling only events like a few organ lessons, meals and naps, and then you know what happened — I received an email message from Miguel Felipe saying, “I’ve had you on my mind recently. . . ”… Read More Beware of lunch invitations!
This weekend I am looking forward to joining the Kona Choral Society in their performance of Schubert, Mass in G and Handel, Messiah on Sunday, Dec. 7th at 4:00 pm at the Sheraton Keauhou Resort. The concert marks the choir’s 25th anniversary with the same program it sang 25 years ago. Although the chorus numbers… Read More On to Kona
Over the last twenty years, I have worked with my colleague at Iolani School, choral conductor John Alexander. Up to last year, I accompanied only the Lower School Choir which sings for chapel every Friday, but last year I became the organ accompanist for the entire 150-voice school-wide chorus for their Christmas and Spring concerts. (I still play for the… Read More Honoring John Alexander
All over town, events were being cancelled because of the threat of Hurricane Ana to the Hawaiian Islands. But the planners of the BIG SING event for the local chapter of the American Choral Directors Association decided to go ahead as scheduled. A gentle rain was falling as many entered historic Kawaiaha’o Church, and what a… Read More BIG SING is Big Success!
This past weekend, I’ve been mostly holed up in my condo, working on my computer on a program booklet for the Hawaii Chapter, American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). I know, I know, I’m not even a member of this organization (!) so why am I doing this? You’ll recall that in July of this year, Carl and… Read More The Big Sing