2022-12-07 00:44
Craig DeSilva of Evening Concert interviewed Susie on his radio show to talk about her favorite Christmas Carols and Why. The show aired on KHPR on November 30, 2022. To give it a listen CL… Read More
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The Windward Choral Society's Windward Notes Blog
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Blogging about choral singing and living in Hawaii, Windward Notes is the blog of a 110-voice choir in Kaiua, Hawaii
2022-08-11 00:47
2019-12-10 18:19
I played in my first orchestra in 1971 (yeah, I’m old…stifle
it) as a less-than-expert holder of a tuba in my lap. Since I read the bass
clef reasonably well, I transitioned to… Read More
2019-12-03 17:39
It’s really fun being part of the audience at a Windward Choral
Society concert. Scanning the group as the singing rolls out is an amazing
contrast in styles and presentation; some ver… Read More
2019-10-25 19:25
So you’re a few weeks into the semester, you’ve rehearsed
everything a couple of times and the panic you felt at the open house has begun
to subside…now what? You’ve… Read More
2019-10-15 17:56
A grand adventure at our rehearsal host Kailua United Methodist church! Several WCS members were kind enough to join in as the handbell choir joined the KUMC choir and tenor Daniel Heathcock… Read More
2019-10-09 18:40
As always, Dr. Tommy rocked.
https://bigislandmusic.net/yee-gads-thomas-yee-astounds/ Read More
2019-09-25 18:24
Many thanks to Tom Kimball for this…the beautiful “‘O ‘Oe ‘Io” in Maori along with a great recording of it done in both Hawaiian and this new version. Ve… Read More
2019-09-18 22:43
Must be that time…
The blog took a break as I had pretty much run out of things to say but the brain of the Blogmeister seems to have opened up a synapse that had lain dormant and… Read More
2019-03-22 00:20
Last night was the full moon rise out of the Pacific, something the Blogmeister clan loves to enjoy. We’ve been skunked a bunch this winter but yesterday evening was crystal clear with… Read More
2019-03-06 20:59
So that was fun…sectional rehearsals. There’s no better way to hammer notes into your brain than sectional rehearsals.
But wait…that’s wrong. There IS a better w… Read More
2019-02-12 01:36
So how fun was THAT show? The 2019 African-American History Month concert had an almost-full house instead of our regular overflow crowd thanks to the weather (Mauna Kea had a 191 mph wind g… Read More
2019-02-09 00:25
So there I was minding my own business in the living room with a particulary energetic hockey game on the TV when an elderly woman walked up the driveway (the Blogmeister abode is back from… Read More
2019-01-31 01:51
I used to teach/jam with a co-worker back when the guitar was my weapon of choice (and the uke spent a lot more time hanging on the wall than it does these days…that situation has now… Read More
2019-01-23 16:48
I read an interesting article recently that sought the answer to “what are your three favorite vocal warm-up exercises”? This question was posed to professional singers, voice co… Read More
2019-01-16 17:20
Aaaaand…we’re off!
New faces, returning faces, old faces, all with a smile and a song on their lips. It sure was nice to be back in business and making a joyful noise. It was al… Read More
2018-12-10 18:24
From one extreme to the other in just a few hours, that’s what Sunday was. The pendulum to one side: the “Glow” concert. Friday was good, Sunday was epic (that’s what… Read More
2018-11-28 20:18
Beware the internet, Gail…there’s no place to hide from your friends.
Before Ezra was a singing star he was a video star! Read More
2018-11-21 21:32
No long musings in the land of rehearsals, brining a turkey, getting the grill rotisserie figured out for said turkey, a vat of gravy the size of a bathtub, deciding how to stuff five side d… Read More
2018-11-14 16:59
Incoming…
The Joy of Music is about to launch itself again, an evening sure to be a grand combination of fun, entertainment, heartwarming moments and (we hope) a successful fundraiser… Read More
2018-11-08 17:27
Ah, that one rehearsal…the over-the-hump rehearsal. The hey-it’s-starting to make sense rehearsal. The run-through-the-whole-show-and-nobody-got-hurt rehearsal.
It’s alway… Read More
2018-10-31 17:48
Yeah, concerts are cool but that’s only a few nights a year, right? If we didn’t like gathering for a few hours each week to rehearse it wouldn’t matter HOW cool a concert… Read More
2018-10-24 17:39
I discovered (purely by accident of course) two ways to make a choir sound better. I’m certain there are many, many more but these two happened last weekend and I thought I’d sha… Read More
2018-10-18 19:15
Ah, the sandwich. Put something yummy between two slices of bread and experience nirvana (unless it’s liverwurst or pimento loaf…that’s just nasty). Few dishes cover such… Read More
2018-10-10 17:00
So one of the members of my Sunday morning choir had a crappy week last week. Car broke down, cost big bucks to fix, had to cancel a trip because of it…and is the mother of a teenager… Read More
2018-09-26 17:42
This came to me from one of the leaders of the church where I work and I just HAD to pass it on…
—–
HYMN # 365
A minister was completing a temperance sermon.
With great em… Read More
2018-09-19 17:03
I’m great. Really.
No, no, not like THAT (don’t make me blush). I’m a great uncle, which means two things are true: 1) I have the cutest grand-niece on the planet and 2) I… Read More
2018-09-12 23:48
Words to know that are important, all referring to music therapy as it applies to cancer patients…
From Cancer Research UK: One of the main reasons people with cancer use music therap… Read More
2018-09-05 18:03
It’s September.
Holman Hall was packed.
Christmas music rolled across the parking lot.
All is right with the world.
Yup, the Windward Choral Society is back in action and two things ha… Read More
2018-06-20 01:28
Just a little something to nibble on that I invented…
It’s mango season and there’s always a bag of them in the conference room at work and more from friends and neighbors… Read More
2018-06-04 17:04
With the insanity of a summer of both family and business travel, the blog is taking a little bit of hiatus as the choir does the same. When, however, I stumble on a nugget of knowledge wort… Read More
2018-05-14 18:30
When you work really hard at something that’s really hard to do and you get one shot at it in front of an audience and it works it’s interesting to look inside yourself to see yo… Read More
2018-05-11 04:53
http://insanity.blogs.lchwelcome.org/2018/05/08/windward-choral-society-triumph/ Read More
2018-05-07 17:07
A little corner of my world that I enjoy is as an ordained officiant (a fancy word that means I can do things like perform weddings and the like). I use this role rarely but it’s alway… Read More
2018-05-01 22:33
http://insanity.blogs.lchwelcome.org/2018/04/26/john-alexanders-requiem/?subscribe=opted_out#subscribe-blog Read More
2018-04-30 17:17
So this is just really cool. Not only is the piece of music unique (reminds me of a Brazilian rain forest piece we did several years back) but the concept of having a live choir combined wit… Read More
2018-04-23 22:50
Back in October I aimlessly pounded out some thoughts on the Evolution of our merry band but I think there’s more to explore. I’m specifically pondering the music that we si… Read More
2018-04-11 17:14
The view from my office overlooks the intersection of several runways at the airport, a source of constant entertainment as things come and go. I’ve even found a place on the interweb… Read More
2018-04-02 17:03
Mrs. Blogmeister made a point of commenting on the celebration of Cam Shuford’s life…she said it was the most moving version of “‘O ‘Oe ‘Io” that s… Read More
2018-03-26 17:20
When someone writes something so good I have to read it twice and it makes me smile and think it has the potential to change how I sing I’d be nuts not to pass it along. Mahalo to &hell…Read More
2018-03-19 17:46
I’ll admit it, my first reaction to John Starr Alexander’s “Requiem” was a resounding “meh” (don’t get mad at me, just keep reading). It just didn&r&hell…Read More
2018-03-12 17:09
So the week after the African American History Month concert Susie gave us a rehearsal day off to rest. I suspected it was more for her than for us given the drain that doing concerts on two… Read More
2018-03-05 17:33
So what’s the deal with this group anyway? I’ve been singing in choirs for XX years (I ain’t saying a number that big) and this one is different. A big pile of different. Y… Read More
2018-02-26 18:04
I’ve always been a believer that a blog post that’s simpy a link from somebody else is just lazy. Rules, however, are made to be broken and this one that Susie sent out is an exc… Read More
2018-02-21 00:12
Before we move on the regular silliness I had to share the best spam post the blog has seen in a loooong time…somebody actually registered on the site so send me this:
“Today, I… Read More
2018-02-12 17:45
I haven’t really been a please-add-your-comments-to-create-a-blog-entry guy but I just couldn’t resist this one time. I was digging through a mountain of choral music in the libr… Read More
2018-01-29 18:34
And it looks a bit on the nippy side! Read More
2018-01-29 17:30
YouTube can certainly be a vast wasteland of absolute time-wasting dreck. Every now and then I’ll stumble upon something that makes me think 1) what on the vast green earth would posse… Read More
2018-01-22 17:32
So a family member of mine was cruising the blog and mentioned in an email that, although she’d known me most of my life, she’d had no idea I was so bizarre and twisted (I suspec… Read More
2018-01-13 01:01
The Blogmeister is on vacation next week so I thought I’d just drop a quick note in here and be back for our regularly scheduled sillines on the 22nd.
—–
Dear Susie,
I was… Read More
2018-01-08 17:38
I was telling this story to a friend of mine and he thought it would be great for the blog…so here it is.
—–
Back in boot camp I was the Recruit Petty Officer in Charge an… Read More
2018-01-02 17:20
Consider this sentence: “I saw a man sitting at a bar with a beer.”
Which could mean, depending on the interpretation:
“I saw a man sitting at a bar holding a beer.”… Read More
2017-12-26 17:05
An actual pre-concert quote from an actual member of the Windward Choral Society: “My wife likes me better when I’m singing in the choir. Best therapy ever.”
Amen to that… Read More
2017-12-18 17:35
Susie has been saying it for 10 years…make eye contact with your audience. Make a connection with your audience. Also, look up from your music and watch the conductor (a subject for a… Read More
2017-12-11 17:13
Ah, concert night. A nice case of the butterflies, singing with the your friends, the crowd goes wild and all is right with the world. Our (always appreciative) audience came for a great sho… Read More
2017-12-04 17:19
A couple of stories to make a point…
Mrs. Blogmeister and I were sitting on the lanai at Buzz’s Original Steakhouse (best Mai Tai on the planet) just hours after we had signed t… Read More
2017-11-27 18:01
There are a lot of things that seem to “plateau”. Progress seems to stop and then there are these little leaps of success. It’s weird. Any experienced golfer will tell you… Read More
2017-11-20 17:36
Things you absolutely can NOT do if your non-auditioned community choir is only 10 years old:
Perform effectively with a choir of nearly (or more than) 1oo members. Too many humans, too many… Read More
2017-11-13 17:41
Mrs. Blogmeister and I recently welcomed a mainland relative for a visit to paradise (not one of the New Englanders, they only come in the winter). It was grand fun, much tourist-type things… Read More
2017-11-06 17:52
It can’t always be puppies and rainbows and flowers and unicorns (except in those irritating “My Little Pony” ads), some days you’re just not at the top of your game… Read More
2017-10-30 17:37
You never think about how bright the lights are at a sporting event. Not the ones where you’re sitting up in the stands but the ones pointing at the field/court/rink/whatever. It&rsquo&hell…Read More
2017-10-23 17:23
When I was living in Connecticut attending the Navy Nuclear Power Prototype School I got a letter from my mother in Vermont (email was still light years away) that had a quarter taped to it… Read More
2017-10-16 17:49
The weirdness of this little corner of the mighty web isn’t 10 years old, it was begun as a bit of weekly silliness 2 1/2 years ago. I have no idea how many people actually read it but… Read More
2017-10-09 18:37
Auditions are a drag. Auditions are not fun. Auditions are scary. Auditions are stressful. I hate them and want them to crawl into a hole so I can pour dirt and concrete over the top of the… Read More
2017-10-02 18:20
From the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), a non-profit based in the UK, a research paper entitled, “Impact of arts education on the cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes of school… Read More
2017-09-25 17:34
In the fall of 1983 I was aboard the United States Navy’s USS Guam (LPH-9, “Swift and Bold”) sitting 300 yards off the coast of Beirut supporting Marines and getting shot a… Read More
2017-09-18 17:16
I coulda copied all of this but a link works mo’ betta’. Some information nuggets about our amazing accompanist. And no, I would NOT have guessed Canadian…hope he’s… Read More
2017-09-11 17:19
If you’re new to singing in front of a conductor this is for you. You see, there really is a method to the madness of Susie’s flailings and I wanted to clue you in. All of the ti… Read More
2017-09-05 17:20
A quick reminder: the opinions expressed and the order of the words in Windward Notes are mine and nobody else’s. They do not reflect the views of and are not influenced or reviewed &n&hell…Read More
2017-08-28 17:52
Note: a little ahead of the monthly schedule but I thought it would be a good read prior to open house.
—–
When in doubt, go to the source. The only one of our merry band that&rs&hell…Read More
2017-08-21 18:12
There are some words that just go together. The two add up to something that makes perfect sense and there’s no confusion about what’s going on. Some examples:
“Richly Deco… Read More
2017-08-14 17:24
This begins a series of monthly blog entries focusing on our 10th year and all of the fun, laughs, tears, bizarro warm-ups, even more bizarro international music and…well…every… Read More
2017-08-07 17:41
A few months back I pounded aimlessly on my keyboard about how to sing the intervals between notes to assist in sight reading: and prior to that a piece about a song that was real… Read More
2017-07-31 18:00
So we get this big pile of music in a few weeks and then Susie starts teaching us how they’re supposed to (going to) sound and she waves her arms and makes funny faces and eventually i… Read More
2017-07-24 17:33
I’ve been singing in some sort of organized, conducted choral music since I was in the 6th grade so it’s not often that I run into something applicable to choral singing that I&r&hell…Read More
2017-07-17 17:11
I haven’t had the occasion to do much (okay…any) singing this summer. Way too many events, visitors and home improvement projects have chewed up my days like locusts through a w… Read More
2017-07-10 17:13
This has exactly nada to do with singing but is my version of celebrating being alive. Until I found this on YouTube I didn’t even know the technology existed to make this kind of vide… Read More
2017-07-06 20:54
Warning: soapbox standing to follow.
I bet I’m not the only person whose most influential teacher was a conductor. Thanks to the small community I grew up in, I had the same choir dire… Read More
2017-07-03 17:21
One of the things about my mother that really struck a chord with her then-teenage son was her role in the University of Vermont’s Interdisciplinary Studies program, specifically that… Read More
2017-06-26 17:37
About singing but not in a choir, yet in one…kinda. Just a neat story I wanted to share…
In 1995 I designed a computer-based forecasting system for a disc drive manufactur… Read More
2017-06-19 17:26
So here’s something cool that a very short list of people on the planet know. It’s not a secret, it’s a nobody-in-their-right-mind-would-see-this sorta thing. When the USS… Read More
2017-06-12 17:53
A friend sent me this and I had to share it. After the singer speaks, hit pause and wrap your head around what she just said. How do you know you’re singing a correct pitch if you can… Read More
2017-06-05 17:47
In the never-ending quest to eat fresh plants and animals I find myself shopping for groceries on my way home from the office several times a week. Yeah, there’s a Costco haul of massi… Read More
2017-05-31 01:59
There is plenty of parking around Kawaiaha‘o, if you know where to look! Luckily, our concert is on a Sunday, so street parking and the metered municipals will be free.
Street Par… Read More
2017-05-30 20:12
Much going on with Memorial Day and family craziness so I wanted to pass on something that I’ve been using for long while. If you’re looking for a zillion pieces of Hawaiia… Read More
2017-05-29 21:42
Greetings from the Windward Choral Society Artistic Director & Founder!
I’m listening to a recording of Dan Forrest’s Requiem for the Living as I ponder what I… Read More
2017-05-22 17:22
Back when I was a Silicon Valley consultant (multi-dimensional database design…seriously nerdly) I worked on a project for a company that sold things by the case. Each case held the s… Read More
2017-05-15 17:11
Before I blast into the blog I just have to show you this amazing thing that I didn’t know existed but everybody should know about because it is SERIOUSLY cool. How about a multi-camer… Read More
2017-05-08 23:09
Greetings from the Windward Choral Society Artistic Director & Founder!
I’m listening to a recording of Dan Forrest’s Requiem for the Living as I ponder what I… Read More
2017-05-08 17:18
I’ve flown a lot of things over the years and every one of them that I threw into the sky had some sort of checklist. Preparing to fall in the “up” direction, even if you&r&hell…Read More
2017-05-01 17:17
My commute takes me along the Nimitz highway under the H-1 near the airport. This particular stretch has quite a few bus stops so there’s almost always one nearby pulling into and out… Read More
2017-04-24 17:20
I used to play a lot of golf before my back and my knees told me to stop, it’s not only a fun and challenging sport but it’s usually played in some of the most beautiful places o… Read More
2017-04-17 17:16
I got this from a friend who knew that I used to hang out (that’s a pun…you’ll see) with the filmmaker’s father back about a zillion years ago in New York. Beautiful… Read More
2017-04-11 18:35
This little bit of silliness was the result of a conversation with a co-worker around flying (a passion of mine) where he tossed out this little nugget from the Hitchhiker’s Guid… Read More
2017-04-03 17:17
I work in an “open office” environment that has no cubicle walls so everybody can see everybody else in their immediate vicinity. (Yeah, I was skeptical at first but it actually… Read More
2017-03-27 17:14
The abstract from this thesis, emphasis added by me:
“Dan Forrest’s Requiem for the Living is a recent composition that is quickly gaining attention in the choral world. The… Read More
2017-03-20 17:31
Hanging out with some friends near a beachfront store where I worked I was shocked to see someone untying the surfboards on top of my car (’71 super beetle, no passenger seat and a pie… Read More
2017-03-13 17:11
“The primary purpose and mission of the Windward Choral Society is to promote the joy, love, appreciation and value of multi-cultural choral music within the Windward O‘ahu commu… Read More
2017-03-06 17:20
I’m not usually much for warm-fuzzy-new-age-feel-good stuff but sometimes you have to go (at least partway) there. I’ve been reading a choir director’s blog on “chora… Read More
2017-02-27 17:21
Ever since the old “Colbert Report” folded up the tent (no longer on the DVR) and Stephen moved to the “Late Show” (a regular on the DVR) the Blogmeisters rarely miss… Read More
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