It’s been an action- and music-packed summer! After an extremely fulfilling first year at Trinity Cathedral, Columbia (many friends made, many accompaniments played, many theory lessons taught), I readied myself for a quadripartite summer with four big milestone events.
The first was the annual conference of the Association of Anglican Musicians, held in Atlanta in June. I served as the secretary and co-registrar on the planning committee (our first meeting was held in September 2023) and was excited and relieved to see everything come together for a rewarding week of stimulating conversations, inspiring music and liturgies, meaningful reflections, and fun networking. This was the largest conference to date with around 350 conferees, and it was great to welcome so many friends and colleagues to my former home base. I was honored that Dale Adelmann programmed my setting of the Preces and Responses at the conference’s opening Evensong, too.
Paul & Meredith Thomas, Ken Miller, and me (all big fans of Trinity, Columbia) at the AAM Conference final reception
The second adventure in my summer was to Raleigh and Durham in North Carolina for RSCM America’s Carolina Choral Residency. I had such blast playing for the course three years earlier under Matthew Owens’ direction, and this year was equally brilliant. I loved getting to know and work with Music Director Kristin Lensch; it’s so special (and sadly rare) to meet a female kindred spirit in our field, and I am grateful to look to her as a role model but also a colleague and friend. Kristin programmed great rep, too: Britten’s Festival Te Deum, Dove’s Seek him, Jessica French’s Tantum ergo, and a setting of the Mag and Nunc by some young person named Käthe Wright Kaufman (written for the choir of Grace Church, Hinsdale, a couple years ago). It was indeed to surreal to accompany my own canticles at the organ, but what a joy to do so in the epic space that is Duke Chapel, on the beautiful Aeolian organ. I continue to be inspired by the RSCM residencies; it makes me very happy to see the tradition carried on by a new generation of choristers, and I’m glad to be involved in what may be formative experiences in their musical careers, as my times at the courses 20 years ago were for me. It’s also been lovely to make more professional and friendly connections with the proctors and housemasters at these events — there are so many wonderful people in Episcopal church music!
Wonderful friends at the conclusion of the 2026 RSCM Carolina Choral Residency
The third chapter of my summer was another that had been in the works for many months: Trinity’s West Coast Tour in mid-July! A group of thirty-something choristers and a handful of dedicated chaperones began our trip in Seattle and offered music for services at St. Mark’s Cathedral in the morning and Epiphany Parish in the evening. I had heard the Flentrop at St. Mark’s before, but getting to play it was a dream; that room has such amazing acoustics for singing, too. From there, we drove to Portland to sing Evensong at one of our sister Trinity Cathedrals, where I enjoyed getting to know the Rosales organ. Then we flew to San Francisco to spend time exploring the city and offer three services at Grace Cathedral. It was a little strange to be on my second choir tour at Grace, the first being in February 2020 with the choir of Peterborough Cathedral (right before the world shut down!), but it was wonderful to reunite with the Aeolian-Skinner. I also had the joy of running into dear friends from Atlanta, Sylvia and Ameya, and I enjoyed getting to know some of Grace’s back row, who joined us for two of our services (including Benjamin, who played for my voice recitals in Evanston in high school — the world of music is so small!). Choir tours are always magical for strengthening bonds between choristers and making a tighter team, and this one was no exception. It was an exhausting but lovely time away in a more temperate climate than moist and hot South Carolina, too. We also had a lovely time on some non-musical excursions to Bainbridge Island (WA) and Muir Woods (CA). My deep thanks go to all of our hosts on the tour, especially Michael Kleinschmidt, Zach Hemenway, Laura Sargent, Katie Webb, Jared Johnson, and Chris Pharo.
At the console at Grace Cathedral, SF
The grand finale of the summer, which began only a few weeks ago, was a pilgrimage back ‘home’ to England. It was a bit of a busman’s holiday, as I was there to play four organ recitals, but I also fit in several more relaxed days in between each concert. This trip probably deserves its own blog post, but here’s a the short version, at least: on the day I flew in to Heathrow, I had some time in London visiting friends then spent three hours that evening registering and practicing for a concert at St. Paul’s Cathedral (in this case, jet lag was working in my favor, having come from the West). My dear friend Chris was a huge help in preparing for this concert, and I owe a lot to his ears and judgment, which helped inform how much of the Dome division to use in my program(me). The next day was a whirlwind; after attending Eucharist Sunday morning at Southwark Cathedral, I jogged across the Millennium Bridge for my afternoon practice time at St. Paul’s, and then that afternoon I played a short and sweet recital: Bach D major, Carter’s Lacrimae, and the first movement of Widor VI. It was a thrill in many ways; not only did the concert go well (which is still not a given for me, considering my nerves), but I performed to a huge group of my family and friends who made a special effort to be there, including my moms, aunt, uncle, and cousins, former members of Truro Cathedral Choir, my colleague Prince from NYC, my colleague Dale from Atlanta, and my best friend from Evanston, Eleanor. Milling around The Cockpit with a Guinness in hand felt a bit like attending my own funeral reception (in a good way…!) as I got to visit with so many special people from different intersections of my life.
After my recital at St. Paul’s