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HYS Partners with Iolani School for PMI Summer Jazz Intensive HYS is excited to announce the launch of the PMI Summer Jazz Intensive, in partnership with Iolani School. Building on an outstanding tradition of big band and combo jazz at PMI, this new program will be held June 7-13, 2020 and will welcome students across the state and Pacific Rim. Spearheaded by Dean Taba, Director of HYS Jazz, and Curtis Abe, Director of Iolani School Stage Bands and Combos, this strategic partnership will provide participating students with an expanded range of faculty, new performance opportunities, and access to Iolani School's state-of-the-art rehearsal facilities. Taba and Abe brainstormed ways for the two programs to combine their resources in an effort to provide the highest quality jazz education, at the lowest cost, to all students in Hawaii. The resulting week-long program will allow as many as 100 students to receive expert instruction from more than a dozen notable jazz musicians. Best of all, they’ll have the opportunity to meet other students their age and at their level who are highly motivated to learn about jazz while they learn from an outstanding and diverse group of mentors. Hawaii resident, out-of-state and international students are invited to register for the PMI 2020 Jazz Intensive at www.hiyouthsymphony.org/pmi/program/jazz.
Performed by Youth for Youth: Listen & Learn Concerts In partnership with the City & County of Honolulu, State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, and the State of Hawaii DOE, our HYS team proudly continued to present our Listen & Learn educational concerts to Hawaii’s youth in 2019. Open to public, private, and home-schooled students, the free Listen & Learn concerts are Hawaii’s only live orchestral concerts for you, by youth. Children have the opportunity to learn about basic concert hall etiquette, see and hear all the different instruments of the orchestra, be exposed to classical music and more. This past year we will have hosted 8 concerts for students on Oahu and Kauai and will server over 10,000 of them.
Winter 2020 Newsletter
HYS Expands Pacific Music Institute & Orchestral Learning Alliance Hawaii Youth Symphony’s Pacific Music Institute (PMI) will be opening exciting opportunities for students this summer with the 33rd season of Hawaii’s ultimate summer music camp! With Joseph Stepec as PMI’s Artistic Director, the annual summer program will take place over the course of six weeks from June 7 through July 12, 2020—offering over 200 students, ages 9-19, the opportunity to learn from world-renowned artists, make lifelong friends, and embrace their passion for orchestral music.
He Makana O Na Mele: The Gift of Music Mahalo to everyone who celebrated our 55th birthday with us at our annual fundraising gala, He Makana O Na Mele: The Gift of Music, and especially to our title sponsor ALTRES, Inc. On Sunday, November 3, we toasted to 55 years of music education and enjoyed a memorable birthday party complete with a gourmet dinner, delicious cocktails, a silent auction, and special birthday cake. The gala featured Youth Symphony I, Maestro Joseph Stepec and a special appearance by world-renowned musician and new member of the HYS Board of Directors, Jake Shimabukuro.
New for 2020, PMI will now offer a new Summer Jazz Intensive, presented in partnership with Iolani School. We will also broaden our partnership with the National Orchestra Institute + Festival (NOI+F), known as the Orchestral Learning Alliance or OLA (also fittingly meaning “life” in Hawaiian), to include String Orchestra and Wind Ensemble programs, in addition to Symphony Orchestra. Maestro Joseph Stepec leading our YS1 students
• June 7 – 13: Summer Jazz Intensive (in partnership with Iolani School) • June 25 – July 3: Solo and String Quartet Program • July 5 – 12: String Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra, and Wind Ensemble (in partnership with OLA)
Thank you for supporting us at this year’s fundraising gala, and we look forward to sharing our 55th season of music with you all!
Hannah Watanabe conducts our HYS students in concert
Mark your calendars for this year’s PMI programs:
Apply by the Early Application Deadline of April 3 to additionally explore financial aid, scholarships, and housing opportunities. We can’t wait to see you at PMI 2020!
Carnegie Hall Comes to Hawaii
Jake Shimabukuro wows the crowd
Hannah Watanabe and Wayne Fanning, both Conductors of Concert Orchestra, are actively involved in the Listen & Learn concerts. Fanning considers them a wonderful opportunity for students to play for a very young and enthusiastic audience, noting, “Many of the students have played music for a competition, festival, exam, or audition—but sometimes students need to play music merely for the sake of sharing their art with others.” Adds Watanabe, “For many students in the audience, the Listen & Learn concert is their first time hearing or seeing a live symphony orchestra. In turn, our HYS students get to experience the joy music can bring to others, understand ways they can positively influence people in the community, and learn how music has shaped their lives in a unique and powerful way. It is a joy and an honor to be able to offer this community outreach every year, and I never get tired of it!”
Randy Wong, Joseph Stepec and Jake Shimabukuro with HYS students who played at our 55th anniversary gala
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Karen Cueva, a specialist from Carnegie Hall, visited with HYS and the Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii’s Nanakuli YET Clubhouse on November 20 to observe violin classes being seeded by the prestigious PlayUSA Grant. During her Hawaii trip, Cueva also visited other HYS music programs, including our Academy Strings Program, Music in the Clubhouse BGCH Spalding, HYS Jazz, and the after school string class on Molokai.
L to R: Kai Abergas, Ashley Nakazaki, Jake Shimabukuro, Beverly-Ann Wiemer, Jacob Feterman, Hinano Tsuchiya
Have an idea for a story, or other comments? Send a note to communityfeedback@hiyouthsymphony.org. Mahalo!
HYS student, Sevastyan Swan, at a 2019 PMI rehearsal
Randy Wong and Kau‘i Mead (far left), Carnegie Hall Asisstant Director of Learning & Engagement Programs, Karen Cueva, and Talia Turnbull (far right) with Boys & Girls Club’s Nanakuli YET Clubhouse students
Making music is a right, not a privilege.
In The News!
President’s Message – Randy Wong
From features in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser to live and in-studio broadcast coverage, it’s been an exciting few months sharing our mission and the joy of music with Hawaii.
Around 1961, Peter Mesrobian was the conductor at my school and HYS, and he needed some more celli and violins for youth symphony, so he invited me and a few other students to join the orchestra. We sat in the back and had a wonderful time playing with high school students from public and private schools all over the island. At the time, there was only one orchestra on Oahu.
Dear HYS Families & Friends – Happy New Year! We had a rousing close to 2019, with fully attended concerts by our Academy, Symphony, and Jazz program students. The entire year was a masterpiece that spanned genres, continents, cultures, and eras—truly a triumph to behold and hear! I recently returned from the League of American Orchestras’ Midwinter Meeting, where I convened with dozens of executive directors from regional, professional, and youth orchestras. Like us, our colleagues across the country are committed to the tenets of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Orchestras in every community are broadening access to their music and supporting a message that symphonic music improves lives everywhere. Two years ago, HYS announced its new strategic vision, “to make music a right, not a privilege,” and since, this mantra has become the driving force behind our work. Whether we are teaching music’s basics to under-resourced youth in rural and neighbor island communities, or we are championing symphonic music for our middle and high school students, HYS is using music to create an inclusive culture through which students of all backgrounds can benefit and learn. As we embark into 2020 and the next decade, I’m thrilled for all the opportunities ahead for our HYS students as they further their own paths through the amazing world of music. I am very grateful, and proud, of the diversity that they each bring to HYS. Thank you for your support of our young people and our vision! Randy Wong
Alumni Profile | Louise Keali‘iloma King Lanzilotti
L to R: Kai Abergas, Hayden Hawkins, Shlok Maharjan, Erin Matsushita, Karen Watarida, Ross Shimabukuro
Student Spotlight|Eden & Naomi Thompson Sisters Eden and Naomi Thompson from Kauai are active participants in HYS, and fly to Oahu at least twice a month to rehearse and perform. Eden was inspired to pursue music by her mother, who plays both violin and piano. When she learned about HYS, she was excited about the opportunity to play with other young musicians in a full symphony setting, and decided to audition for the program so she could further develop her skillset. She additionally plays percussion with her school band. When asked about her favorite part of HYS, Eden said: “I love how amazing the pieces sound with all of the instruments playing together. The music we learn together and perform is both fun and challenging. It’s also a privilege to play at the Blaisdell.” Naomi first heard about HYS when she traveled to Oahu to perform in a recital for the Hawaii Ophthalmology Society. After her performance, a family friend suggested Naomi join HYS, so she auditioned and got in! Like her sister, she is also an HYS violinist, yet in the Concert Strings Orchestra program. When asked what she loves most about HYS, Naomi said: “It’s the amazing music we get to perform. The program is also very challenging, which I enjoy.” But music isn’t their only passion. Eden and Naomi are eager to pursue careers in medicine and veterinary medicine, respectively, though they hope to continue to play music for the rest of their lives! Editors note: Do you know an aspiring musician from a neighbor island? HYS provides travel reimbursements and scholarships for students across the state. We also accept donations to support neighbor island participants -please get in touch if you are interested!
I remained in youth symphony until I graduated from high school. I loved the repertoire and the challenge of playing in youth symphony. On occasion, Mr. Mesrobian would allow me to conduct while he went to the back of the hall to listen to the balance of the orchestra—that was heaven. Because I had the opportunity to play in orchestra from 4th through 12th grade and the heightened level of playing with the best students on Oahu in HYS, I was inspired to attend music school. I never studied conducting in school, but I had caught the bug, and over time I found ways to make conducting part of my musical life. I believe that music should be part of every child’s education. Music teaches expression, Lorem ipsum cooperation, discipline, empathy and cultural literacy. Part of my career has been spent teaching music to all ages. I also started an orchestra program based on the model of El Sistema for students who don’t have an opportunity to study music otherwise. The program has been offered at Kaaawa Elementary School and Kuhio Park Terrace, among others. I am currently lending violins from my non-profit Kalikolehua to HYS for their Music in the Clubhouse program at the Nankuli Boys & Girls club. My children were drawn to music very early on, and grew up studying the Suzuki Method with Hiroko Primrose. Both of my children began on violin, then migrated to other instruments (Anne to viola and Nawahineokala’i to cello). They had an excellent orchestra program at school, but I had a sense that they would thrive in HYS with serious students from around the state, and they did. Both played in HYS throughout high school and have gone on to be professional musicians, Anne in Classical and new music, and Nawahine as an ethnomusicologist performing cross-cultural music. – Louise Lanzilotti, HYS 1961-1966
May Ward Be With You! Mahalo to Consolidated Theatres for an out-of-this-world experience in December! Brass students from HYS, under the direction of maestro Joseph Stepec, performed the music of Star Wars and holiday favorites for a packed house at Ward Theatre at the premiere of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Our students were even featured on KITV during a fun “Morning Shakas” segment.
Back, L to R: Jacob Lacambra, Ethan Garland, Kai Abergas, Cuyler Murata, Robert Wiemer, Ryoma Sears. Front, L to R: Mark Gorospe Jr., Jacob Fetterman, Hinano Tsuchiya, Levin So
HYS Alumna Receives Grammy Award Nomination Congratulations to notable HYS alumna Kathryn Schulmeister on her recent Grammy award nomination! The Edge of Silence: Works for Voice by György Kurtág, the album for which she was nominated, was a partnership with fellow artists Susan Narucki (soprano), Donald Berman (piano), Curtis Macomber (violin), and Nicholas Tolle (cimbalom). We sat down with Kathryn to learn more about her experience working with her fellow musicians, her impetus for learning to play the double bass, and how she felt when she first learned of the prestigious nomination. Q: What was your response when you first learned you’d been nominated for a Grammy award? “I was thrilled when I first found out! And while I was surprised, I also had known that a Grammy award nomination was a possibility since both the leader of the project, vocalist Susan Narucki, as well as producer Judith Sherman have won Grammy awards in the past.” Q: When and why did you first learn to play the double bass? “I’ve been playing the bass for about 21 years now. I started when I was in third grade at Hanahauoli School by participating in their strings program. I think I was attracted to the idea that the bass was a unique and challenging instrument, and since then I’ve embarked on an incredible journey as I witness the limitless musical potential that this beautiful and versatile instrument truly has.” Q: What was the most memorable part about working on The Edge of Silence: Works for Voice by György Kurtág? “I was first brought into this project to perform this repertoire in a live performance at the University of California, San Diego. During this experience, I was blown away by the incredible composition of music, and having the opportunity to perform such a work with top quality musicians is truly moving. I also had never before listened to a recording of myself, so being able to be transported back to the memory of the live performance in such a beautiful way has truly been the most meaningful and memorable part of this experience.”
Free Community Concerts Kauai Community Concert | Performed by YSI February 17, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. Kauai Community College Performing Arts Center YS1 students will be performing at Kauai Community College this President’s Day, along with special guest trumpeter, Casey Tamanaha! HYS alumnus & trumpeter
The celebrated Casey Tamahana musician is also an HYS alumnus, playing in YSII and YSI while in high school.
Locally, Tamanaha has been a guest musician with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, the Hawaii Opera Theater and the Royal Hawaiian Band. He earned his bachelor's degree at the Juilliard School and his master's from the Manhattan School of Music. Spring Concert | Performed by YSI, YSII, CO April 5, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. Blaisdell Concert Hall Spring Concert | Music in the Clubhouse M4K – Band – Violins BSE, ISE, SOE, CSO April 26, 2020 at 5:30 p.m. Kaimuki High School
Board of Directors Chair: Patti Look Vice Chair: Sharon R. Himeno Secretary: Erica Mau Orejel Treasurer: Mary Ellen Williams Directors: Alan Arizumi, Liza Wo Davis, Gladys Hirano, Collin Hoo, Martin Hsia, Richard K. Ing, Roy King, Jr., Tina Lau, Malcolm Lau, Michael Onofrietti, Geoffrey S. Sewell, MD., Jake Shimabukuro, Jean Tsukamoto