In May of this year, when organbuilder Hans-Ulrich Erbslöh was in Hawaii to clean and add a couple of stops to the Beckerath organ, I mentioned that I was planning to go to Japan for my birthday this year. Hans immediately said that I ought to contact Takeshi Nakazato, with whom he had gone through… Read More A day with Takeshi
Two weeks from tomorrow, I’ll be getting on a plane to Tokyo, Japan, to celebrate a milestone birthday. I wanted to do something different for my birthday instead of going to California to be with my family, as I’ve done for years. I’m not sure who told me about it, but I found out that… Read More Destination: TOKYO!
On my “must do” list before I leave town was seeing the movie, “Florence Foster Jenkins,” the film about the amateur soprano whose singing of opera classics was preserved forever through recordings. I first became acquainted with her voice in the 70s and I remember laughing hysterically with friends at parties when her recordings were played.… Read More Every voice deserves to be heard
Say, do you know that expression, “an albatross around your neck?” It comes from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” in which a sailor who shoots a friendly albatross is forced to wear its carcass around his neck as punishment I probably would have never thought this expression could be used in… Read More Sheet music albatross
I met a new student yesterday, and it confirmed for me why I teach organ. I could absolutely see “the lights come on” when I had her hold down a chord and I pulled the stops one by one until she was playing on full organ. It’s all about the “wow” factor — when you… Read More Why I teach organ
No, I’m not talking about the color of one’s skin, which seems to dominate the news these days. I’m talking about what color a performer wears! In fact, there was an article recently by Dr. Noa Kageyama, a sports psychologist who works with music students at the Juilliard School, who writes a great blog called… Read More Does color matter?
One of the traditions we have in the Crosier household is that we always have guests sign our guest book. We actually started the book at our wedding 34 years ago and we’re now on volume 5! When someone comes to dinner or is a houseguest or comes to play a recital or sing in… Read More The Guest Book
Our hearts are in our throats as we watch the news of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Carl and I can’t help but think back to our trip there in March 2006 when he and violinist Yuko Honda gave the fourth and final “Reunion Concert.” In fact, it was just about 5 years ago… Read More Reunion Recitals