Gifts keep coming

What a summer of acquisitions!

1. Box upon box of music and books from friends and classmates Jeff Binford, Charlie Steele, Beth Hill, and John Marsh to share with students;

2. Clyde Holloway's Aeolian-Skinner;

3. Free registration and lodging for all my students at the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival;

4. Free back adjustment from a new friend at a recital venue; (Can't imagine why my back was hurting. I only loaded a pipe organ, drove it halfway across the country, unloaded it, then drove six hours to a recital venue to practice.);

5. A wonderful goodie bag from the choir of the Belin United Methodist Church, Murrells Inlet, SC, where I just dedicated their new Allen organ;

6. A facsimile of the autograph of Franck's Choral in b minor, courtesy Bruce Cornely.

A summer of rich blessings, indeed.

A time warp

Last night, I put about 300 people into a time warp. I re-played the inaugural program that was played 30 years ago this year, on the Casavant installation at Appalachian State University. The original program was played by my teacher, H. Max Smith, in whose memory we announced a new scholarship endowment last night, as well. It was a triple whammy evening: the organ's 30th birthday, a celebration of Max's legacy, and a new scholarship. Program was Lübeck F major, Scheidt Warum betrübst, Bach E-flat, Lesur In paradisum, and Reubke. And of course, the necessary eating and drinking ensued. Today I am not the least bit exhausted, even as I prepare now to go play in Knoxville, then fly to Houston to pick up Clyde Holloway's Aeolian-Skinner and move it to my house, then go dedicate an Allen on the South Carolina coast, then put all this music to bed and start on the next round of music for October and November. It's gonna be a killer.

Summer 2014

So far this summer, I have biked about 500 miles in New England. I have attended the national convention of the American Guild of Organists in Boston. I have played one recital and one choral concert.

The second half of the summer includes my semi-annual pilgrimage to Houston, a wonderful pilgrimage to introduce my sister to the Outer Banks, and the Organ Historical Society convention in Syracuse. And another recital -- this one came out of the blue. Lorenz Maycher called and asked if I could take his place as a featured recitalist at the OHS convention. He is having some issues to work out with his rebuild at church in Kilgore and couldn't get away as he had hoped. I am sorry for his situation, but I am so very honored and humbled by his asking me and by the OHS agreeing to it, too. And the best part is that this all happened before the convention book went to press! And so, as usual, on top of all the fun and games is a huge amount of practicing, just the way I like it.

It's going to be a doozy

This fall, my organ studio will be the largest it has ever been. Four undergrad majors, three grad majors, and one secondary. I'll be teaching the four new ones twice a week, a practice I adopted several years ago -- it just gets them going a little faster. But it's a killer for me.

Plus my favorite course on Liturgies, which, oddly enough, is not offered in our Philosophy & Religion department. But they're invited to come, even though we'll be singing in class from time to time.

Plus Monday evening accompanying duties for the Appalachian Chorale.

Plus four recitals (so far), one conference, one hymn festival, and a Halloween Monster Concert. All before Thanksgiving.

It's going to be a doozy of a semester. But I have not wavered from my practice of saying that I like it this way. I may not believe that as the semester wears on, but it will come back. I suppose I should stay home this summer and get ready for it all. Nah.

Let the traveling begin

I won't lie. There is more than one joy in not having a church job. But the greatest joy in it is being able to sub for others. Several months ago, Edie Johnson emailed to ask if I was available and interested in covering Holy Week and Easter for her because she was pregnant and due on Palm Sunday. It has been my pleasure to cover for her this week on the mighty Aeolian-Skinner at Church Street United Methodist in Knoxville. As of this writing, it is Saturday early evening, and since Wednesday I have practiced for hours and played a choir rehearsal, a Maundy Thursday service, a Good Friday service, and a Saturday brass rehearsal. Tomorrow, Sunday, I'll play services at 6:30, 8:30, and 11:00. This has been a most enjoyable way to spend a Holy Week -- working and yet not working. Although I have worked hard and done what I do very well, I have also been to my favorite restaurants, helped Brad Rule tune a bit and enjoyed lunch with him, enjoyed getting to know Tim Ward at the church, and today I walked all over the Univ. of Tennessee campus and relived some memories of the 1982 World's Fair closer to downtown.

But that's not all. Tomorrow after church, I'm hitting the road to the Atlanta airport to catch a flight to Paris, followed by the TGV to parts east in France. I'm attending the annual meeting of the European Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. This annual meeting is always an organ tour in some corner of Europe, during Easter week. This year, it's Strasbourg, St-Avold, and Metz. What a way to unwind after Holy Week and Easter!