It is a tradition in India to perform music of spiritual depth only if one is a spiritual master. The purpose of music not being for the development of ego of the performer, but rather for the enlightenment and spiritual edification of the listener. In other words, music’s goal is connection with the Divine. In … Read more
I’m in Lüneburg, Germany – a small, former Hanseatic town that was once one of the wealthiest places in Germany, thanks to the salt mines here which created, by the Middle Ages, the largest industry in all of Europe. For Bach aficionados, it’s also the first place where Sebastian Bach came, setting off on his … Read more
“I will not let you leave me until you have blessed me.” Loosely translated, the patriarch, Jacob, spoke this to the angel with which he wrestled for a night, leaving him with an injured hip. Some five millennia later, I’m standing (for two and a half hours) on the Davies Hall stage, playing Messiah, with … Read more
The following is taken from my final review which I wrote for the Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians. It gives my ideas about the future of the recording industry. This is my last CD column for the AAM Journal. I’ve greatly enjoyed the process of writing reviews, listening to CDs, and consulting with … Read more
This has been a banner winter for me and Monsieur Poulenc; I’ve had the opportunity to play all or part of his organ concerto sixteen times in performance. Once, last November, with the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony (B.A.R.S.), twice in January with the Santa Cruz County Symphony, and thirteen times with the San Francisco Symphony … Read more
This week, two titans of church music passed from this world to the next; each had an enormous influence on me. The first of these, Gustav Leonhardt, was actually only an acquaintance of mine, having met him while still a Conservatory student. But his career was one that I emulated. Here was a brilliant keyboard … Read more