Musings

Spring in Holland, Michigan?  Tulip Time!  There was of course, more to the spring 2015 than just Tulips, wooden shoes, and Dutch dancing, but this seems a good place to start.      This past spring I had a number of fun musical opportunities nearer to home.  I was asked at the last minute to…

My “mini tour of the South”, as I liked to call it, was this February, to Chattanooga, TN and Birmingham, AL.  I had hoped to see lots of sun and the arrival of spring a good month or two before we can hope for such things in Michigan.  Alas, balmy it was not, but at…

September started wtih an international gig!  Ok, it was Canada, and I can drive to Toronto in about 6 hours, so not that exotic.  But I loved the chance to visit an exciting city that I hadn’t seen since I was about 10 years old, and of which I remembered only two things: the CN…

June and July this summer were busy organ months for me. First, I was in Boston for the AGO national convention in June. Boston is just a great organ city, and I thoroughly enjoyed a week of hearing recitals, and catching up with colleagues and friends, and well as wandering around the city, searching for…

I was in Indiana in April and had a great trip.  For one thing, spring had actually arrived there, four hours south of us, and it was warm and flowery!    I was invited by the Indianapolis American Guild of Organist chapter to perform a recital on an instrument by organ builder Charles Ruggles.  The…

I’ve gotten quite passionate recently about the idea of investing in our local musical communities as artists – the impact we can have as local musicians, and the many benefits, both for us as individual artists, and for our greater communities, when we do so.  In that vein, here are some vignettes of what’s been…

  I spent a week in New York City this February, and as with many things in life, it didn’t quite go as I’d expected, but was still a good time.  I had some concerts, teaching, performing, and recording lined up to do during the week I was there.  One of the many crazy snow…

Non-musicians who hear I travel to play concerts sometimes assume that I’m enjoying travel to exotic locations, and seeing the local sights during my concert trip.  This is partially true.  I have had the opportunity, because of a concert I’m playing, or an organ I’m visiting, to be in places I never would have otherwise…

Spring into Summer in Holland, MI: tulips, berries, the beach, and organ conventions May in Holland, Michigan means Tulip Time, the festival of all things Dutch – Pigs in a Blanket, traditional Dutch dancing in costumes and wooden shoes, and many, many Tulips. The kids and I checked out all three parades this year during…

Winter 2013 – Treasures close to home: snow, local gigs, and (of course) organs.   Well hello again. It’s been a long midwestern winter here, filled with much more of this   than this or at least it seems that way sometimes. However, when I sit down and think about it, I certainly can’t complain.…