The Talented Freemason Hando Nahkur

It is my feeling that Freemasons are by nature creative people, that is serious students of the Craft and not MINOs (Masons In Name Only). Some serious Freemasons are painters, some are sculptors, some are publishers,  some have radio programs, some are musicians, some are actors, some own and operate large Masonic websites, others Masonic Internet Forums, some are magicians, many are teachers and clergy and a whole bunch are writers. And if an active Freemason doesn’t fit into any one of those categories he will at least tend to be a prolific reader. Now not all Freemasons fit into this mold but the percentage that do are very high. A person in the arts sees something in Freemasonry that draws them to it.

Twenty-eight year old Brother Hando Nahkur fits the mold described above. He is a concert pianist, a native Estonian who came to the United States 8 years ago. His first stop was Yale University in Connecticut where he spent 3 years studying music with Boris Berman, followed by 2 years at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston with Gabriel Chodos, and then 3 years in the music program at Texas Christian University (TCU), Fort Worth, Texas where he is still matriculating under the tutelage of Tamás Ungár.

Hando Nahkur on the piano

Nahkur is not done with his studies at TCU. Already in possession of a Masters Degree in Music he hoped to finish his DMA (Doctor of Music Arts) but an opportunity has risen, a great honor, which he cannot turn down, that will delay his further education.  He will participate in the quarter finals of the 9th F. Liszt International piano competition at the Spring Festival in Utrecht, The Netherlands in March 2011.  Auditions took place in Shanghai, Moscow, Utrecht and New York City. Over 200 pianists auditioned but only 24 were chosen, and Nahkur was one of those 24.

Nahkur also studied in Estonia before coming to the United States.  He made his debut with the Estonian symphony orchestra at the age of sixteen. He went on to perform with the Orchestra of the Estonian National Opera.

While he frequently performs solo Nahkur has performed with the Bergslagen Symfoniker, the St. Andrews Festival Orchestra and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. He has played at the Amersterdam Concertgebouw in the Netherlands, the theater of Markopoulous Mesogeas in Greece, Vienna Konzerthaus in Austria, H. Reimann Hall in Switzerland, the Teatro Eden in Italy, the Casa de la Cultura de Reynosa in Mexico, George Weston Hall, Toronto, Canada,  Harris Concert Hall, Aspen, USA, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and Jordan Hall, Boston, USA, Steinway Hall, New York City, USA, Ed Landreth Hall, Fort Worth, USA and the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, USA to mention a few.

He has played in 22 of the states of the United States, in Costa Rica, Italy, Sweden, Germany, Finland, Estonia, France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Israel and Russia. Nahkur has garnered top prizes in both national and international piano competitions, including top prizes in Estonia, Italy, Greece, Russia, USA and Canada. In 2005 he was awarded the Golden Medal of Merit from Toronto, Canada.

Nahkur was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason in Newton, Massachusetts at Waltham Triad Lodge in the Fall of 2007. The cause of his interest in Freemasonry is a story that should be paid attention to by members of the Craft who seek to add new blood. During his stay in Boston, Nahkur attended a music concert that just happened to be held at the auditorium of the Scottish Rite National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Massachusetts.  The exhibits there piqued his interest and he started asking questions. Some who were in his party that were Masons answered his questions and one ended up bringing him to his Lodge in Newton. Within the year he was a Master Mason.  And within another year he had moved to Texas and affiliated with Fort Worth Lodge #148 of the Grand Lodge of Texas AF & AM, where he is the Lodge’s musician –

Nahkur in addition to being a performer is an arranger of music and he plays and arranges some popular and romantic music as well as classical pieces. He also teaches music part time. His favorite classical composer is Liszt with Chopin and Schubert runner ups. His upcoming concerts include Boynton Beach, Florida in February and his native Estonia in April.

He is ecstatic with the rave reviews he has received on his latest CD, DeusExClavier.  On his coming trip to Utrecht, Brother Nahkur hopes to go to Lodge there and meet Freemasons from the Netherlands. He speaks Finnish, Estonian, Italian and English languages. If you were to talk to Nahkur there are two character qualities that would stand out, his passion for what he does and what he is and his discipline.

If you would like to hear a sample of his playing and learn more about this talented Freemason, visit his website

There only remains to be said – not bad for a man of twenty eight years.

Are You Experienced?

“Have you ever been experienced? Well…I have.” -Jimi Hendrix

are you experienced jimi hendrixI was listening to the Are You Experienced album by Jimi Hendrix the other day. I listen to the album in its entirety about once a month. I find it incredibly inspirational. Every time that I hear the opening riff to Purple Haze I feel like I’m hearing it for the first time. It is so fresh, so original, and so futuristic…even though the album was released 43 years ago.

At this point, many of you are probably asking, “What does this have to do with Masonry?” Well, I’ll tell you.

One of the greatest characteristics that Jimi Hendrix possessed was that he really challenged the natural order of things. Many of his peers felt threatened by his musical prowess and originality. Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and even John Lennon and Paul McCartney felt that Hendrix may possess the ability to put them out of business. Some respected him for that. Some did not.

Hendrix also represented the counter-culture of the 60’s, but in a different way than many of his contemporaries. He didn’t discuss his political philosophy by an outright partisan protest, but rather by passive suggestions and asking rhetorical questions about the state of world affairs. He used his music and his celebrity as a way to open people’s minds instead of drawing a divisive line in the sand. In a lot of ways, Freemasonry is intended to do this for its initiates.

Freemasonry has always challenged the natural order of the world. For centuries, religious organizations and governments have opposed its “questionable motives.” They oppose it for a good reason: Freemasonry promotes individual enlightenment and the right of every man to find his path to a greater existence. Not surprisingly, in order to accomplish those goals a man must challenge his preconceived opinions on spirituality, politics, and philosophy. This makes it difficult for a man belonging to the Masonic fraternity to be controlled by his church or his government.

Unfortunately, one of the problems with Freemasonry today is that we no longer require our initiates to open their minds and challenge their beliefs. We no longer get “experienced.”

There are many reasons for this. One of the major issues facing Freemasonry today is that our organization is very concerned about discrediting any accusations of sinister activities by our fraternity. We spend a lot of time and money on institutionalized charity and removing any mystery surrounding the order in order to combat any unfavorable opinions about Masonry. When mentoring our candidates, we turn our degrees from deep, philosophical allegories into shallow fables. Most Masons don’t do any sort of Masonic research on their own and they certainly don’t receive any in lodge. Today’s Masonry is a charitable civic organization, where a man improves himself simply by joining. We talk about turning the rough ashlar into the perfect ashlar, but we don’t actually pick up the chisel and attempt to transform ourselves.

Of course, some men do experience a transformation because they are diligent in their Masonic studies. I certainly changed a lot of my views and opinions after becoming a Mason. It challenged many preconceived notions that I held. At first, I resisted the new ideas that were floating around in my head, but I finally allowed reason be the victor. I truly feel like I got “experienced.” Sadly, many of our initiates never have this feeling. They never see Freemasonry as being anything more than a set of rituals, a charitable organization, or a social club. They completely miss its complex intricacies. Of course, this makes the questions from our candidates simpler and much easier to answer and for those initiates that feel the need to ask a difficult question, there is always a politically correct answer in some Grand Lodge publication.

We must bring back the process of getting “experienced” back to Freemasonry.

Our Brethren and our initiates should have their minds challenged at every lodge meeting. Our lodge education should be something out of the ordinary. Discussions should be held about every topic that is presented and the Brethren must understand that Freemasonry is about keeping the mind open to new enlightenment.

Have you ever been experienced?

Angels and Airwaves co-opts the square and compass in the name of Love.

On a video posted on the Modlife website for the band Angels and Airwaves (AVA) if you pay close attention to the beginning of the video you can see their new square and compass logo, melded with other iconography of the fraternity, mixed with elements of the bands name.

Apparently, Angels and Airwaves is going Masonic.

I just stumbled across this and don’t have much info, but it leaves me wondering what the intent was of using the tools of Freemasonry in the bands brand logo.

Their Wikipedia post has been updated to talk about the new logo and asserts that it is linked to the bands new album “Love”, saying of the new logo mark: This new logo…contains the Latin words “et plumbum mundus per lumen” which translates to “and lead the world by light”.

The new album is due out in February of 2010.

On July 27, 2009, Tom Delong blogged via Modlife: “We’re in the beginning stages of getting the word out that we have a new record and a movie called LOVE that will be released 2/14/2010”

I wonder if while borrowing the square and compass, their borrowing the concept of brotherly love too.

I’ll see what else I can dig up.  In the Mean time, watch the Angels and Airwaves video with the log and tell me what you think.

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Harm Timmerman, Composer of The Temple of Humanity

templeThis Sunday, March 29th, we are jumping the pond again to welcome our special guest from the Netherlands composer and Producer Harm Timmerman from Free Stone Music, the creator of the Masonicly inspired CD “The Temple of Humanity“.

Missed the live show?  Listen to it Now!

The CD is self-described as The “Music of Freemasonry” and having listened to it several times already I would tend to agree. But this isn’t the usual high-pitched organ grind or the occulted “Magic Flute”  of past generations, no, this music reaches out and becomes part of the spirit of the tiled Masonic lodge room and carries the listener into the sublime meditative state that we each strive to inhabit when contemplating the degrees.

This is just a sampling of the stunning Music on this album.

Look for us this Sundays, March 29th, at 6PM PST/9PM EST.

Listen to the program live stream player widget on Freemason Information, or dial into the show to listen and interact with the hosts. Join our interactive show chat from our application site on talkshoe. To join the conversation live, dial the number 724-444-7444 and enter the show I.D. 19162, fifteen minutes prior to, or during the program.

And, check back soon as some of the details of the program may change preceding the on-air portion.