A Century Of Symphonic Music
By Paul Kosasa
Board Chairman of Hawaii Symphony Orchestra
Hawaii Symphony Orchestra (HSO) is proud to bring back performances by world-class guest artists and conductors to our community this fall. Our opening concerts Oct. 19 and 20 will feature violin virtuoso Sarah Chang and internationally acclaimed conductor Jahja Ling. Tickets for this and the rest of the fall season concert series are available now. Call 593-2468, or download an order form from our website, hawaiisymphonyorchestra.org.
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Music always has been a conspicuous thread in the fabric of Hawaii’s culture. Hawaii has had a symphony orchestra since the beginning of the 20th century, making it the home of one of the oldest orchestras – if not the oldest orchestra – west of the Rockies. Compositions by our Hawaiian ali’i have been memorialized in music scores in HSO’s library and performed for many decades by our orchestra.
In 2011, bankruptcy threatened the potential loss of Hawaii’s 100-plus-year-old orchestra as well as hundreds of unique and rare Hawaiian musical compositions written during the last century. A group of concerned citizens, now your HSO board of directors, stepped up to save the original music. And they worked hard to keep our orchestra in Hawaii so our professional musicians can perform these and many other works for our community.
But we need your support. A thriving HSO brings important benefits to our quality of life, contributes to our cultural heritage and musical diversity, provides educational benefits and generates jobs that strengthen our economy. HSO musicians make up about half the faculty at University of Hawaii’s music department, and many provide private instruction to nearly 1,000 local children.
Please consider joining us. See and hear for yourself the incredible talent we have. Tell your friends, colleagues and businesses to help sustain HSO for our community.
On behalf of the HSO board of directors, we sincerely thank the many concertgoers and donors who have supported this organization over the years. Together we will continue to give outstanding performances for many years to come and to preserve and perpetuate the proud tradition of symphonic music in Hawaii.
