Berlin - Magdeburg - Verden - Bremen - Worpswede Long before we left Germany last October, I was busy making plans to return.  I eventually was able to line up 5 concerts to play within a two week time span, both in the region around Bremen, where we lived, and also in a couple other cities.  My non-musician friends were almost incredulous to hear that one could, in effect, pay for one's vacation this way.  As you will see, it's…

April 19 - 21 This was an exciting weekend for me – my first organ dedication! Wahl Organbuilders, from Appleton, Wisconsin, and Daniel Schwandt, the cantor at Augustana Lutheran Church in Chicago's Hyde Park, asked me to dedicate this new instrument. Dan, as well as Christoph and Ron Wahl (of Wahl Organbuilders), are all people I always enjoy running into at organ conventions and other organ-related events, and I was honored they asked me to play. The Wahl organ is…

I got back recently from one of those work/fun kinds of trips that I'm lucky enough to be able to enjoy now and then. This was the annual convention of the Organ Historical Society, which took place this year in Chicago, one of my favorite cities. I was there to play a recital, but also to see old friends and talk organ-talk with like-minded people, as well as hear some inspiring concerts. My expectations were pretty well met. As with…

My host, the organist at St. Helena, Pat Gould, was gracious (as Southerners seem to know how to do so well!), as she drove me around, pulled stops for me, cooked me delicious dinners, and put me up in her lovely house. The organ was a breath of fresh air – sensitive and beautiful. The church space was Episcopalian through and through – elegant, understated, reverent – and old! - they had gravestones in the cemetery for soldiers from the…

Feb. 24-26 On Friday, I awoke very early in the morning to a small blizzard in western Michigan, making my drive across the state to the Detroit airport a little longer and more adventerous than originally planned. I made it with no major problems, but had a delay and missed my connecting flight. The tiny plane that I eventually took from Charlotte, NC to Charlottesville, VA, combined with more turbulence than I have ever experienced on any flight in any…

Last week, I took an eagerly awaited trip down to Northwest Indiana, to visit two organs I'd heard about from like-minded organ friends. Craig Craimer is the organ prof at the University of Notre Dame, in South Bend, and right around the time I left the country, in 2004, they built a beautiful new performing arts center, and in the organ hall, had the American organ builder Paul Fritts build a large, mechanical-action instrument that is definitely influenced by Northern…