This was the third and final video created this summer by Matthew Carter, the "Video Intern." He shot almost all of the video for this and did all of the editing. I got a "Producer" credit for mentoring and guiding him at various points in the project. But mostly this is really Matt's impressions based on his summer exploring what God is doing in the Diocese. Some say this is their favourite of the three videos, and I can understand why.
Special thanks to Tim Elliot who volunteered his time and skill to play some of the music you hear on the background of the video. That's him playing Piano at the end (at Messiah). He was impressed by our piano and the acoustic of the church, which made me quite proud. Actually, the church works very well for recording piano.
Funny story, while Tim and I were at the church recording, I left Henry with Tim's son Jeremy at the Paul Hahn Piano store. Jenny Andison, a priest and friend of mine, walked in with her husband piano-shopping. She says to Jeremy, "You have a very cute son, he looks a lot like Henry Moss." "Well," said Jeremy, "In fact it IS Henry Moss...." Small world, heh?
When I came back to pick Henry up after our recording was done, Judy Maddren, Tim's wife and Jeremy's mother, was just returning from taking Henry for a walk. She threatened to kidnap him. So he was clearly in affectionate hands while I was gone.
Showing posts with label piano. Show all posts
Showing posts with label piano. Show all posts
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The Heintzman
Remember about a year ago when we started trying out new pianos to replace a clunky upright? Here's the one we finally settled on: a Heintzman Baby Grand. Why this piano? Well, for one thing, this piano sounds great in our space. It's more expressive and subtler than many of the others we tried. It has greater dynamic range (i.e. you can play very softly or very loud) and the tone quality is very rich and melodic. The action is very smooth and natural. It's also a better built piano than, for example, the Baldwin we tried a few months back. All around, this is a better instrument for both regular Sunday morning worship and concerts!
The concert application is particularly important to us as we continue to find people to rent out the space. In fact, just a few days ago we had a man looking for music recital space to rent for whom the fact that we had such a nice piano was the deciding factor. Heintzman might not have much name recognition in the states, but the Toronto maker studied alongside Steinway in Germany and what he produced in his workshop here in Toronto is every bit as good as what Steinway did in the states.
So we are very proud of our new piano and glad to have finally settled on one after a year of trying to find just the right fit. My thanks to Paul Hahn and Co. for being so patient with us. we've already raised quite a bit of money for the project, but we'll need some thousands more to finish paying it off. So if you're interested in supporting excellent music at the Church of The Messiah, please contribute!
-t
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Instruments
Today Matthew and I went back to Paul Hahn Pianos to check out another candidate for COTM's permanent piano: a matte black Baldwin 5' 8" grand. The store had made an effort to adjust this piano to improve the action in a particular way in response to Matthew's feedback, and the results pleased Matthew. In a perfect world I'd still prefer a stained wood to a black case, but as I said at the store, I'm more concerned about how the piano sounds and makes my Music Director feel! So they are going to swap the current piano we have on loan from them for this one and try it out for awhile. It's quite possible we may settle on this instrument for permanent use, but we want to get to know it a bit first.
This is a great way for churches to buy pianos--put down a down payment and then keep trying instruments until you fall in love with one. It eliminates virtually all the anxiety about finding the right one, and it pretty well ensure that we will find what we want at the price we want (eventually).
By coincidence, this was also the day the organ tuners (Alan Jackson and Co.) came by to take a look at our pipe organ and do the usual sort of tuning and upkeep. They told me that our organ is in excellent shape and ought to give us at least another 20 years of good service without an issue. I asked what was likely to fail first, and the expert suggested it would be the combination mechanism (the buttons that let you set multiple stops with one press). In our case this would be a relatively minor repair, so no worries. I tell you, I've learned more about pipe organs in this my ministry than I ever cared to! I think the previous generation of priests would have said the same thing about boilers--and the next will the same about computers. One of the most important attributes of a descent parish priest is someone able to learn new things!
I had lunch with a parishioner today--that included some good feedback about a couple of recent decisions I've made. I also got to bat around some ideas with my staff at our weekly meeting. Several different initiatives are beginning to come together even better than I originally planned. Whew!
-t
This is a great way for churches to buy pianos--put down a down payment and then keep trying instruments until you fall in love with one. It eliminates virtually all the anxiety about finding the right one, and it pretty well ensure that we will find what we want at the price we want (eventually).
By coincidence, this was also the day the organ tuners (Alan Jackson and Co.) came by to take a look at our pipe organ and do the usual sort of tuning and upkeep. They told me that our organ is in excellent shape and ought to give us at least another 20 years of good service without an issue. I asked what was likely to fail first, and the expert suggested it would be the combination mechanism (the buttons that let you set multiple stops with one press). In our case this would be a relatively minor repair, so no worries. I tell you, I've learned more about pipe organs in this my ministry than I ever cared to! I think the previous generation of priests would have said the same thing about boilers--and the next will the same about computers. One of the most important attributes of a descent parish priest is someone able to learn new things!
I had lunch with a parishioner today--that included some good feedback about a couple of recent decisions I've made. I also got to bat around some ideas with my staff at our weekly meeting. Several different initiatives are beginning to come together even better than I originally planned. Whew!
-t
Friday, November 30, 2007
Progress
My lunch was very enjoyable. I really do like talking to people about God and church and all that stuff, apparently. We tried a restaurant I've never been to; I had a very good seared Tuna Fish Sandwich. When I think of it, I try to eat fish on Fridays in deference to ancient tradition and as a kind of mild fast.
When I got back to COTM I found a note from Susy with a second version of the mural sketch. It looks absolutely fantastic and I'm super excited about the shape it's taking. I would love to post it here, but it's not quite ready for that kind of exposure, yet. The creative process is delicate and can be ruined by too much exposure. So I just have to be patient.
The painter is finishing up the bathrooms today. The art won't be hung up in there for a while longer, but they still look so much better than before. I'm sure people will be pleased on Sunday.
I stopped by Paul Hahn today to look at another piano. They are recommending this as our permanent piano (the one we have in the nave right now is a loaner)--it's a gorgeous Heintzman with a rich walnut case. I'm eager to hear Matthew's opinion. Of course, if he doesn't love it when can be patient and wait for the next one comes along. It's nice to have the luxury of time on something like this.
-t
When I got back to COTM I found a note from Susy with a second version of the mural sketch. It looks absolutely fantastic and I'm super excited about the shape it's taking. I would love to post it here, but it's not quite ready for that kind of exposure, yet. The creative process is delicate and can be ruined by too much exposure. So I just have to be patient.
The painter is finishing up the bathrooms today. The art won't be hung up in there for a while longer, but they still look so much better than before. I'm sure people will be pleased on Sunday.
I stopped by Paul Hahn today to look at another piano. They are recommending this as our permanent piano (the one we have in the nave right now is a loaner)--it's a gorgeous Heintzman with a rich walnut case. I'm eager to hear Matthew's opinion. Of course, if he doesn't love it when can be patient and wait for the next one comes along. It's nice to have the luxury of time on something like this.
-t
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Prep for Tomorrow
Today I picked up some sample chairs from St. Augustine's. I'll give an announcement at the beginning of church time, tomorrow, to describe their purpose. I'm curious to see people's reactions to them, though they seem pretty uncontroversial to me. Our old chairs (from 1977) are falling apart. These new chairs are very nice and within our budget...
Jeremy Eliot, from Paul Hahn Pianos, came by with a baby grand on loan. They have a couple of nice pianos currently under restoration that we may like--but in the mean time we'll happily store this one for them. I'll post some pictures when I get a chance. I can already tell that it is much mellower and richer than Yamaha we borrowed before.
Right now I want to practice my singing for tomorrow (with the new piano) but there is a dance class using the church right now. So I think I'll go home and have supper with Betsy, instead.
-t
Jeremy Eliot, from Paul Hahn Pianos, came by with a baby grand on loan. They have a couple of nice pianos currently under restoration that we may like--but in the mean time we'll happily store this one for them. I'll post some pictures when I get a chance. I can already tell that it is much mellower and richer than Yamaha we borrowed before.
Right now I want to practice my singing for tomorrow (with the new piano) but there is a dance class using the church right now. So I think I'll go home and have supper with Betsy, instead.
-t
Friday, October 19, 2007
The March of Progress
We had a "Corporation" meeting this morning to handle church business. We got through a bunch of different agenda items--mostly relating to the ongoing renewal of the church and a bunch of over-due renovations to the old rectory. Stuff continues to roll along and develop very nicely. We are even making tentative plans for a day long visioning event to help solidify our vision of ministry for the next year or two. Stay tuned!
They also approved going forward on the piano project. We are giving Paul Hahn and Company a deposit towards purchasing a piano. We don't know precisely which piano we are going to buy from them--though they have a couple of candidates currently being refurbished. In the meantime, they will provide us with a suitable piano on loan. So hopefully we'll have an instrument in next week that will remain until we choose a permanent instrument sometime in near future.
There are bunches of other projects underway. It's a busy time at COTM! Today I have a voice lesson and then a pastoral visit to make.
-t
They also approved going forward on the piano project. We are giving Paul Hahn and Company a deposit towards purchasing a piano. We don't know precisely which piano we are going to buy from them--though they have a couple of candidates currently being refurbished. In the meantime, they will provide us with a suitable piano on loan. So hopefully we'll have an instrument in next week that will remain until we choose a permanent instrument sometime in near future.
There are bunches of other projects underway. It's a busy time at COTM! Today I have a voice lesson and then a pastoral visit to make.
-t
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Another Thursday
This morning I met with a couple getting married here at the church on Monday. I'm assisting at the service, though their minister from home (Vancouver, in this case) will be doing most of the liturgy. It's a pretty straight forward wedding as these things go.
Our monthly Workplace Bible Study went well. It's always nice to get out of the office and get free sandwiches. I like sandwiches.
Today we got another generous gift towards the piano fund. We about 3/4 of the way to the full cost of a baby grand. Not bad considering we hardly did much fund raising! Amazing how people will give when they know where it's going. One of our next priorities will be the chairs. Our current chairs are in bad shape and tend to attack the people sitting in them. Here's a candidate for their replacement...
Comfy looking, heh? These are at The Church of St. Augustine of Canterbury up on Bayview and Eglinton. They were custom made, but still quite reasonably priced. St. Augustine's is quite progressive liturgically, and I can't wait to try some of the things that they have been doing for some time.
These days I still feel like I'm focusing way too much on putting out fires and keeping up with all the stuff that needs to be done rather than thinking strategically. When I came here I had grand ideas about doing leadership retreats and such. In reality it's hard enough just to get a group together for lunch! As it was, I did manage to get the Ministry Team together for a snacks at the Pour House for today's staff meeting. We did manage to plan ahead through Christmas on some matters.
Which brings up an interesting dilemma... Should we decorate the church for Christmas on Advent IV (Dec 23) between the Sunday morning service and the evening Lessons and Carols? Or the 24th (Christmas Eve) before the Pageant?
or the 22nd (Saturday before Advent IV)? Liturgically, the answer is obvious. but I'm told there have been HUGE fights in the parish in the past over this very question. So I'm deliberating on it. Probably going to be the 22nd or the 23rd. I just hate the idea of having Christmas Decorations up during the penitential and preparatory season of Advent! Sigh.
The new rug is gorgeous. We already have all kinds of ideas for how it can be used. but for the time being we are also very protective!
-t
Our monthly Workplace Bible Study went well. It's always nice to get out of the office and get free sandwiches. I like sandwiches.
Today we got another generous gift towards the piano fund. We about 3/4 of the way to the full cost of a baby grand. Not bad considering we hardly did much fund raising! Amazing how people will give when they know where it's going. One of our next priorities will be the chairs. Our current chairs are in bad shape and tend to attack the people sitting in them. Here's a candidate for their replacement...
Comfy looking, heh? These are at The Church of St. Augustine of Canterbury up on Bayview and Eglinton. They were custom made, but still quite reasonably priced. St. Augustine's is quite progressive liturgically, and I can't wait to try some of the things that they have been doing for some time.
These days I still feel like I'm focusing way too much on putting out fires and keeping up with all the stuff that needs to be done rather than thinking strategically. When I came here I had grand ideas about doing leadership retreats and such. In reality it's hard enough just to get a group together for lunch! As it was, I did manage to get the Ministry Team together for a snacks at the Pour House for today's staff meeting. We did manage to plan ahead through Christmas on some matters.
Which brings up an interesting dilemma... Should we decorate the church for Christmas on Advent IV (Dec 23) between the Sunday morning service and the evening Lessons and Carols? Or the 24th (Christmas Eve) before the Pageant?
or the 22nd (Saturday before Advent IV)? Liturgically, the answer is obvious. but I'm told there have been HUGE fights in the parish in the past over this very question. So I'm deliberating on it. Probably going to be the 22nd or the 23rd. I just hate the idea of having Christmas Decorations up during the penitential and preparatory season of Advent! Sigh.
The new rug is gorgeous. We already have all kinds of ideas for how it can be used. but for the time being we are also very protective!
-t
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Thanksgiving and Aftermath
(Canadian) Thanksgiving went well. We had some friends over and enjoyed the usual poultry and fixings. After everyone left I recovered by watching an incredible game of Monday Night Football. Took the trash out and went to bed.
A crazy busy day today. Can't talk about part of it for confidentiality reasons, but suffice it to say that I came away from the morning feeling thankful for the work of the Holy Spirit to inspire ministry. It's nice to know we've got a friend in the Paraclete.
We had a good meeting with Jeremy Elliot at Paul Hahn Pianos. He showed Bryan, Matthew, and I around the shop. Matthew played a few of the pianos and we had a discussion about what we want and don't want for the church piano. Jeremy had some insights to offer about what they will be able to provide for us, and the whole experience was positive. He's going to write up a proposal and we'll see where we go from there. This whole process reminds me a lot of match making.
I got back to the church just in time to answer a few e-mails and then go online for a teleconference demonstrating some church management software. This is essentially an integrated database package that can track contact information, contributions, and facilitate communications in a big way. For instance, at the end of the year you can ask the program to print tax receipts for all the givers automatically. Currently COTM does that task by hand. It also makes managing mailing lists (both e-mail and snail mail) very efficiently. There are lots of other fun and useful features as well--all part of the modern pastor's tool bag.
That reminds me... I need to get a white board for my office. I'm way too visual a problem solver not to have one.
-t
A crazy busy day today. Can't talk about part of it for confidentiality reasons, but suffice it to say that I came away from the morning feeling thankful for the work of the Holy Spirit to inspire ministry. It's nice to know we've got a friend in the Paraclete.
We had a good meeting with Jeremy Elliot at Paul Hahn Pianos. He showed Bryan, Matthew, and I around the shop. Matthew played a few of the pianos and we had a discussion about what we want and don't want for the church piano. Jeremy had some insights to offer about what they will be able to provide for us, and the whole experience was positive. He's going to write up a proposal and we'll see where we go from there. This whole process reminds me a lot of match making.
I got back to the church just in time to answer a few e-mails and then go online for a teleconference demonstrating some church management software. This is essentially an integrated database package that can track contact information, contributions, and facilitate communications in a big way. For instance, at the end of the year you can ask the program to print tax receipts for all the givers automatically. Currently COTM does that task by hand. It also makes managing mailing lists (both e-mail and snail mail) very efficiently. There are lots of other fun and useful features as well--all part of the modern pastor's tool bag.
That reminds me... I need to get a white board for my office. I'm way too visual a problem solver not to have one.
-t
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
A Productive Day
Well today was certainly productive. Some nice surprises, too. For instance, I had a meeting with someone who felt moved to pray for me when we were finished. I was moved by this--it's not that often that people ask to pray for me when I'm in my priestly mode.
Also, Betsy and I traded in our 2-year old cell phones for new models. Our old ones had just about bitten the dust, and she was concerned about having a working phone for the upcoming BSC Conference (which she is helping to plan and run). Cell phones are a really handy tool when you are on-site trying to coordinate something like that. We ended up choosing two different models--I went with a Razor V3T and she chose a Sony Ericsson W810i. I like mine because it's thin and lightweight. She likes hers because it's got robust MP3 functionality (she's been wanting an MP3 player for a while). Anyway, that's all worked out.
More progress on the piano front. We have an appointment next week to talk to another piano store. Now that we have one donation in hand, we are pretty certain this is going to happen. It may be that we have to solicit another donation to get a piano that suits our needs, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
I'm feeling great right now. Things are just peachy. I love that I can really see some nice vistas opening up for the future of COTM and for my role in that future. I can't wait to come back to work tomorrow, right now, however, I need to go meet Betsy...
-t
Also, Betsy and I traded in our 2-year old cell phones for new models. Our old ones had just about bitten the dust, and she was concerned about having a working phone for the upcoming BSC Conference (which she is helping to plan and run). Cell phones are a really handy tool when you are on-site trying to coordinate something like that. We ended up choosing two different models--I went with a Razor V3T and she chose a Sony Ericsson W810i. I like mine because it's thin and lightweight. She likes hers because it's got robust MP3 functionality (she's been wanting an MP3 player for a while). Anyway, that's all worked out.
More progress on the piano front. We have an appointment next week to talk to another piano store. Now that we have one donation in hand, we are pretty certain this is going to happen. It may be that we have to solicit another donation to get a piano that suits our needs, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
I'm feeling great right now. Things are just peachy. I love that I can really see some nice vistas opening up for the future of COTM and for my role in that future. I can't wait to come back to work tomorrow, right now, however, I need to go meet Betsy...
-t
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Random Post-Worship Thoughts
Last night I dreamt that I was about to preside at a funeral service for my grandmother (who died when I was in College several years ago). It was in unfamiliar but large church with a full congregation. I was supposed to preach, but hadn't prepared much and couldn't even recall what the lessons would be. Anyway, I survived the dream.
I also survived today's services. Each Sunday seems to be smoother and smoother as I fit into the grooves of the place. Megan and I have worked out a good system for doing announcements at the beginning of the service. We've also come to a nice place with regards to our "altar craft" (there is still some room for improvement here). Today I tried using the brass desk rather than the pillow to support the Altar Missal. It was a good idea, the "desk" works much better, though I appreciate what the pillow is trying to accomplish. The Chancel Guild is now putting the corporal in the burse--which is what I prefer.
One of the decisions you have make in liturgical planning is whether you imagine that you are doing a rite in a place that is already pre-sanctified, or whether you are coming into the place as for the first time. The difference is that in the latter model you spend a lot more energy marking off holy space and defining it as such. So the procession follows the cross and you deliberately put down the corporal as a beat of the liturgy, etc. If you imagine the space to be already sacred, you don't have to do as much sanctifying. Both modes are good and suitable to Sunday worship, it just tends to bias things in one direction or another depending on what affect you are trying to achieve. The only problem comes when you confuse the two approaches. Anyway, we are working on it.
As we recessing down the aisle after the service, a woman from Egypt reached out and touched the processional cross and kissed her hand. I recognized the gesture immediately, and I'd love to implement a similar devotional practice around the gospel book or the processional cross more regularly. They do this at St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco. This Sunday's devotional kiss was not a deliberate reference to St. Greg's but there are number of other practices at COTM that were, indeed, inspired by the liturgically innovative parish in San Fran. I understand that St. Greg's does liturgical workshops regularly--it's tempting to put that on my list of continuing ed events. But I think the conferences at St. Bart's in NY in June and the Leadership Summit at Willow Creek in August of next year are higher priorities at the moment. Hopefully I can get a COTM contingent together for one or both.
Speaking of ministry, we have a gift of $10,000 to spend towards a new piano. That's about a 1/3 of what we ultimately may need, but it is enough that we may be able to get a fantastic "concert grade" instrument if we can find a dealer willing to give us a deep discount. Or we might simply have to raise a bit more money--but having the seed of $10k makes a HUGE difference to the likelihood that we'll get what we're looking for. I'm very excited.
Megan did a good job with today's sermon. A couple visiting from SMM told me that it was the best sermon they had heard on the subject of money. It is a hard thing to preach about and she did an excellent job of teasing out the implications of the Scripture's sayings on the topic.
That reminds me, I need to fix the sound system. Not sure how premium I should go with that. I think I would probably do well with about $3k worth of equipment. It will be much easier to repair and upgrade than the SMM system. Besides swapping out the ancient amplifier and wireless mics and adding an EQ and a mini-mixer, I'm also thinking about getting a TASCAM HD P2. These are really designed for field recording, but the flexibility it offers would be nice for recording any kind of concerts that might happen here. I could simply put it where I need it, attach to microphones and we are good to go!
But even before I get to that point I need to make more progress on reading the parish histories, develop the website, rebuild my computer, edit and post sermon videos, get the Rectory rented, meet with Merv, pray, pray, and pray. sigh.
Right now I'm going to go watch some football.
-t
I also survived today's services. Each Sunday seems to be smoother and smoother as I fit into the grooves of the place. Megan and I have worked out a good system for doing announcements at the beginning of the service. We've also come to a nice place with regards to our "altar craft" (there is still some room for improvement here). Today I tried using the brass desk rather than the pillow to support the Altar Missal. It was a good idea, the "desk" works much better, though I appreciate what the pillow is trying to accomplish. The Chancel Guild is now putting the corporal in the burse--which is what I prefer.
One of the decisions you have make in liturgical planning is whether you imagine that you are doing a rite in a place that is already pre-sanctified, or whether you are coming into the place as for the first time. The difference is that in the latter model you spend a lot more energy marking off holy space and defining it as such. So the procession follows the cross and you deliberately put down the corporal as a beat of the liturgy, etc. If you imagine the space to be already sacred, you don't have to do as much sanctifying. Both modes are good and suitable to Sunday worship, it just tends to bias things in one direction or another depending on what affect you are trying to achieve. The only problem comes when you confuse the two approaches. Anyway, we are working on it.
As we recessing down the aisle after the service, a woman from Egypt reached out and touched the processional cross and kissed her hand. I recognized the gesture immediately, and I'd love to implement a similar devotional practice around the gospel book or the processional cross more regularly. They do this at St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco. This Sunday's devotional kiss was not a deliberate reference to St. Greg's but there are number of other practices at COTM that were, indeed, inspired by the liturgically innovative parish in San Fran. I understand that St. Greg's does liturgical workshops regularly--it's tempting to put that on my list of continuing ed events. But I think the conferences at St. Bart's in NY in June and the Leadership Summit at Willow Creek in August of next year are higher priorities at the moment. Hopefully I can get a COTM contingent together for one or both.
Speaking of ministry, we have a gift of $10,000 to spend towards a new piano. That's about a 1/3 of what we ultimately may need, but it is enough that we may be able to get a fantastic "concert grade" instrument if we can find a dealer willing to give us a deep discount. Or we might simply have to raise a bit more money--but having the seed of $10k makes a HUGE difference to the likelihood that we'll get what we're looking for. I'm very excited.
Megan did a good job with today's sermon. A couple visiting from SMM told me that it was the best sermon they had heard on the subject of money. It is a hard thing to preach about and she did an excellent job of teasing out the implications of the Scripture's sayings on the topic.
That reminds me, I need to fix the sound system. Not sure how premium I should go with that. I think I would probably do well with about $3k worth of equipment. It will be much easier to repair and upgrade than the SMM system. Besides swapping out the ancient amplifier and wireless mics and adding an EQ and a mini-mixer, I'm also thinking about getting a TASCAM HD P2. These are really designed for field recording, but the flexibility it offers would be nice for recording any kind of concerts that might happen here. I could simply put it where I need it, attach to microphones and we are good to go!
But even before I get to that point I need to make more progress on reading the parish histories, develop the website, rebuild my computer, edit and post sermon videos, get the Rectory rented, meet with Merv, pray, pray, and pray. sigh.
Right now I'm going to go watch some football.
-t
Friday, September 21, 2007
Piano
The Paul Hahn and Company have graciously lent us one of their pianos for this weekend's services. Here is a picture of a happy Matthew Tran-Adams on the keys...
Hopefully we'll be able to find the money or a patron so that we can get one these babies permanently. Matthew's training was in piano performance--so we are looking forward to letting him loose with a proper instrument...
-t
Hopefully we'll be able to find the money or a patron so that we can get one these babies permanently. Matthew's training was in piano performance--so we are looking forward to letting him loose with a proper instrument...
-t
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