Dana's Blog... Notes from New York City
Week 1
September 8
I can't believe that I have already been in NYC for a week. The time is flying by. The morning began with what is becoming a comfortable routine for me: taking the No. 6 train to Union Square and walking to First Presbyterian. I had a good practice session this morning, and with each passing moment become more comfortable with the feel and sounds of the sanctuary organ. I'm going to play the postlude to the service this week, and even though it's a piece I've played a million times, I feel myself getting nervous. After a lunch at one of New York's ubiquitous salad bars, I went back to the church and continued my exploration of the extensive (ever more than our's) choral library. Each time I delve into it, I find something that bears further thought. Later in afternoon I went to the Morgan Library which had an exhibit featuring the work of Albrecht Durer. Since the exhibit ends this coming Sunday so I was intent upon seeing it soon. http://www.themorgan.org/home.asp I returned to St. Thomas Church for the service of Evensong (sung Evening Prayer) http://www.saintthomaschurch.org/webcasts. Again it was exquisitely sung by the men of the choir, a sound not to be missed!
September 7
The holiday is over and back to 
work I went today. I started the day at First Presbyterian
practicing on the 4-manual, Sebastian Gluck organ (http://www.fpcnyc.org/music/the-organ/sanctuary-organ-gluck-organ.html).
It is approximately 100 ranks, or approximately 2 1/2 times the size
of our instrument at Church of the Cross. The size and
layout of the instrument present some unique challenges that are not
insurmountable but require some time to feel a level of comfort.
Following a couple of hours at the console, I went to the choir room
and began my inspection of the choral library. My hope is to find
music that will be suitable for our use at Church of the
Cross. Unfortunately, I had to cut my time short to
return to the apartment to wait for a UPS delivery which I had missed
on Friday. Giving UPS a 3 hour window of opportunity
can really put a damper on the afternoon.
Fortunately the UPS guy made a
fairly early delivery and I was 
liberated to take the E train to
53rd and 5th Avenue where I was able to attend the first Choral
Evensong of the season at the St. Thomas Church. The choir today
consisted of the "Gentlemen of the Choir". (www.saintthomaschurch.org/worship/calendar/show/1115).
The men of this choir, which is modelled on the English Cathedral
choirs of Men and Boys, sing the Alto (Counter-tenors), Tenor and Bass
parts. The boys who are all full time students in the church's
choir school will sing for the first time next Sunday. They
provide the soprano part. The men sang with a consummate
musicianship, every bit the equal of the Tallis Scholars or Chanticleer
(minus the male sopranos of this group.). The only thing that marred
this beautiful service was the sounds of the subway trains which run
under the church to the 53rd street station. I finished off
the day with a wonderful meal at Il Palazzo in Little Italy, another
part of New York which I had not explored in my previous visits to the
city.
September 5
Sunday, September 5 was my first opportunity
to worship at First Presbyterian Church. The service was
beautifully done, moving, and most importantly for me, an opportunity
to worship with no responsibility to distract me from actually
worshipping. A young associate pastor provided the sermon,
Dr. Entriken played the service on the church's large 4-maunal
organ masterfully, and Ellen Entriken, who has sung at Church of the
Cross on two separate occasions, sang "Softly and Tenderly", the
theme from the movie "Return to Bountiful".
Following worship we went to coffee
fellowship (must be a Presbyterian thing) where Bill introduced me to a
gentleman who looked vaguely familiar. F. MURRAY ABRAHAM is a
regular attender at First Presbyterian. He was remarkably
unassuming and easy to talk to. We had a nice conversation about
music. I was so surprised. I'm going to get a DVD of
"Amadeus" (he played the composer Salieri in this movie classic) and
have him sign it! More later.
September 4
My first of Saturday in New York was 
devoted solely to being a tourist (although, I must look like I
know what I'm doing because I've been asked everyday for directions on
more than one occasion.) The morning began with a subway trip to West
Village. The ultimate reason for being there was to see a
performance "Our Town" (http://www.barrowstreettheatre.com/whats-on/town.asp)
but I spent a bit of time wandering (read getting lost) around this
most entertaining area. I had read the play before I came to the
city in anticipation of seeing the production. I stand in awe of
persons who can turn it into such an emotional blockbuster!
One of the places that I had missed in my trips to New York was Katz's Deli (http://www.katzdeli.com/.)
I remedied that tonight. I took a long bus ride down 2nd Avenue
to Houston Street and was not disappointed by what I found at this
landmark NY deli. It is beyond anything in my previous
experience! And the pastrami...get outta here! It is
truly a pleasure to have the luxury of time to explore and enjoy the
city at a leisurely not hectic pace!
September 3
I
began the day by returning to First Presbyterian Church. My
friend, Bill (Dr. William) Entriken, organist-choirmaster of the
church, was in the office, just returning from vacation. We had a
wonderful, wide-ranging conversation. I then went to the chapel
where there is a small jewel of an instrument (see picture).
The
pipes on either side of the organ are of burnished copper, which
matches the plaster ceiling in the chapel which is faux-painted to
resemble burnished copper. The window in the middle of the organ
is by Tiffany as are many windows throughout the church.
After a bit
of practice for me on the chapel organ (chapel is air
conditioned) , and catchup from vacation work for Bill, he and
I walked west to 6th Avenue for a great lunch and more great
conversation about the church, its music and other issues of common
concern.
The walk led us on 12 Street bordered on one side by the New School University whose president is our (Nebraskans) former governor and senator, Bob Kerry. Following lunch, I sat in on an audition for a baritone choral singer (not soloist). A recent college graduate with a wonderful voice, he had recently moved to New York to seek fame and fortune as a singer. As a point of reference, First Presbyterian Church pays 16 singers.
Top: Chapel Organ
Bottom: Main organ; note Organ Vespers Series folders on music rack!
September 2--First Day
I was able to begin my practice routine
at First Presbyterian Church this morning. I felt right at home.
NO air conditioning and it's hot here. I met two very
important people there: the receptionist, who was very helpful, and the
custodian. With those contacts I was off and sailing 
on the
church's newly re-built organ including a new console. The old
console actually caught on fire! For more information visit the
First Presbyterian website: http://www.fpcnyc.org/.
After a couple of hours at the organ, I walked back to the subway stop and stopped for my first piece of New York pizza at a place incongruously called "California Pizza". I took the subway back to my apartment for a bit of a break. Did I mention that it's hot here? I had heard, and it still seems strange to me, that it is hotter underground in the subway stations than it is above ground. It's true. Perhaps someone can explain that to me.
I read on the New York Times online edition of an exhibit called the "Glory of the Ukraine" an exhibit of religious art created for the Orthodox Church. The exhibit was at a museum called the "Museum of Biblical Art", a small gallery which is associated with the American Bible society. See their website: http://mobia.org/.