May 2025

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Aloha, Members and Friends,

 

Now that our successful 2024-25 season is complete, we invite you to renew your current membership or to become a new member of the Hawai‘i Concert Society for the coming 2025-26 season. Please accept this invitation by returning the membership form (form link), along with your contribution.

 

Many of you, no doubt, have special memories of our recently completed season. There is only space for me to mention some of my own favorite moments, which perhaps you share. The Escher String Quartet’s performance of Samuel Barber’s poignant Adagio was a stunning experience for all of us. Gut, Wind, and Wire’s concert of Baroque music on period instruments was received more enthusiastically than any concert of early music that I remember. From the first note to the last the young, but already so together Aoi Trio overwhelmed us with their artistry. Violinist Nathan Meltzer and pianist Wynona Wang introduced us to some very recent and truly unusual composition. Among them was a particularly attractive piece by the young American composer Hannah Ishizaki, who attended the concert and came on stage to introduce it to our audience. Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana dazzled the sold-out concert hall with its, artistry, energy, and sheer beauty. Finally pianist Ilya Yakushev’s season-ending concert was absolutely thrilling, as was his interaction with our audience, both on stage and in the lobby. We certainly will do our best to bring him back soon.

 

The forthcoming 2025-2026 season is a work in progress, but the board already is close to finalizing some of our presentations and we are certain that the quality and diversity that we will present in it will rival that of past seasons.  We expect to present the internationally renowned Parker String Quartet. Also, we will bring back audience favorite Joyce Yang, who will perform both with Chamber Music Hawai‘i and as a soloist. We hope to present a concert by the vivacious Eroica Trio, who last performed in Hilo nine seasons ago.  We also hope to present once again the duo of Soyeon Kate Lee and Ran Dank in a piano two- and four- hands performance. And there will more, including possibly a surprise or two outside of our usual fare.

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To organize and present a season takes time, thought, and effort, which our all-volunteer board is happy to provide. As you know, it also takes financial contributions to help cover artists’ fees and travel, production costs, theater rental, insurance, and other expenses. Our members provide the financial platform upon which each season is based. Their contributions also help keep ticket prices low so that more of our Big Island neighbors can afford to attend, and they help to cover the costs of bringing our artists into contact with students via master classes and educational performances.

 

Your tax-deductible contribution to the Concert Society reflects your commitment to our mission of bringing world-class artists to our community and giving our young, aspiring musicians the opportunity to interact with artists at the tops of their fields. At the same time, you will be helping us keep the price of tickets affordable to our friends and neighbors who otherwise might not be able to enjoy these performances. If you are already a member, we would ask you to think about increasing your contribution as a vital investment in the enrichment of our community’s cultural health. We look forward to your generous support.

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On behalf of the entire board, mahalo!

Thomas R. Geballe,   President

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