My pipe organ adventures

 

I’ve had fun recording a short 30 minute concert this week. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church has hosted a Friday Noon concert for many years. It is a way for them to share with the greater community. A local junior college encourages students to attend, so we often have people popping in for a few minutes. Some bring their lunches and (respectfully and neatly) munch as they listen. I have been invited several times to play and enjoy it greatly!

Since we’re all recording and posting online, that’s what I’ve done for this Friday. This is the page where the link is posted: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK9Xvh2eadS0KrPu8bAOsBQ/videos

I try to pick music for each concert to showcase a portion of the organ. This week, I also challenged myself to play pieces written in the key of G. It was fun looking through the repertoire. I hope you enjoy!

Please consider supporting St. Paul’s or a local church with such an outreach. They are not “closed” and still offer many opportunities for community. Many are struggling to see a way to fill the many needs. To donate to St. Paul’s, click here: https://www.stpauls-salinas.org/donationsdonaciones

St. Paul's Salinas

I invite you

To St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Salinas. I will be playing for about 30 minutes beginning at Noon on Friday, March 6, 2020. (That's tomorrow! Yipes!)

The church is at the corner of Pajaro and San Miguel. Parking is available across the street in the lot or on the street. I will be playing 10 pieces all composed in the key of C Major. Each lasts just a few minutes. I drew from repertoire from the 16^th century to the 20^th century. I really tried to find something I liked written in the 21^st century that would be short and easy to listen to, didn’t find anything. I’ll keep looking. Bring your lunch and join us as we explore organ music in the key of C.

What a whirl wind of a weekend!

It all started Friday with my mini-concert at St. Paul’sSalinas. I chose to just start playing this time. No bowing between pieces. “The European Way” as a colleague of mine puts it. I do like playing this organ. So, I played on not knowing who was out there. I heard a stifled sneeze and a cough or two so I knew at least 1 person was listening besides me. At the end of the list, there was applause to acknowledge. I was pleased to see an old friend out there.

We caught up over lunch and then it was back to the task at hand: keep the big house going while working. We took a break Saturday and enjoyed the Italian Festa. It was great fun! Sunday was a full day at St. Dunstan's with services in the morning and hosting a concert in the afternoon. I was pleased with how it all went, but quite exhausted at the end of the day. Unfortunately, the barometer was climbing all day, so my walking-talking-barometer was suffering. That made for a bit of a tough evening. I chose to do the bare minimum and get to bed early. Good thing too! I was still kinda dragging Monday morning. And the hands are the worse for the wear. They’re getting better today. Another good night of sleep and I’ll be able to practice or pick up the shuttles again (but not both!).

In the meantime, I’m enjoying checking in on the organ installation at First Presbyterian in Monterey. Everything came off the truck Monday. Now starts the big push. Typically, the crews work 10 hours days just to get things off the pews so people can still use the space for worship…..small detail! 

a big one!

They’re approaching community use of the organ differently than St. Dunstan’s. I hope they do a recital series. If not, we’ll still get to enjoy it! 

Organ concerts and earrings

First off, an update on the organ side of my day. I had the pleasure of hearing James Welch play the organ at St. Dunstan’s recently. It was inspiring. Mostly for the music he played. He chose wonderful music that really showed off the instrument. Also for the people who came. The concert sold out. Standing room only. The Fire Marshall would have probably had a fit. And everyone enjoyed themselves. It’s so much fun to hear good organ. It’s even more fun to see people who may not be familiar with organs to walk in and experience the King of Instruments.

Now on to tatting:

These are what I came up with from Renee Campbell’s pattern Rainbow Bright Earrings. I enjoyed tatting them, even though I used size 80 thread and no beads. The star shaped spacers I used were a find in a bead shop where I used to live. I’m not sure if they’re still available. I plan to wear these to celebrate anything having to do with being American.

Oh, and yes, I will be playing again for the St. Paul's Noon concerts soon. I'll try to remember to post about it here as soon as I have the next date. I just get distracted at the organ and forget to do tasks on the 'puter. My bad. I promise to keep the organ first, but fit this in also.