Sonia Tastes Hawaii

Our Hawai'i County Band

 

A few days ago I shared a bit about our wonderful Hawai'i County Band performing during the 11th Annual Chinese New Year Festival in Hilo and mentioned that I would share more about them later on...

This is later on... 

This year, the band celebrates 130 years of a very colorful and interesting history.  It was founded as a family band in 1883 by immigrant brothers Joaquin and Jules Carvalho, two young barbers who settled in Hilo after leaving the Azores during the large Portuguese migration to Hawai'i.  Joaquin directed and Jules played the cornet.

When the band scheduled concerts, the brothers closed the barber shop and would reopen afterwards.  Through the years and while Hawai'i was still a Monarchy and later the Republic of Hawai'i, the band grew and became known as the Hilo Band.  After the United States government annexed Hawai'i, the islands were separated into counties and the Island of Hawai'i, became also the County of Hawai'i, thus in the year 1900 the band took on the name of Hawai'i County Band.

After Mo'oheau Park Bandstand by the bayfront was built in 1904, the location became the performing home for the band where they have been playing one Saturday a month for the last 109 years!  The Hawai'i County Band is the second oldest band in the state.

Except for the director who is employed full-time, the band members are all Hawai'i County part-time employees with regular 'day jobs'...including an astonomer, a fruit farmer, a retired trucker, a funeral director and even a chimney sweep!

Most of the long line of directors have also been school band directors.  The current band director is Paul Arceo who has served for several years.  Many of the band members have been with the band for many, many years, some as long as 35 and one member played with the band for over 57 years!

In it's 130 years of service, the band has provided free monthly concerts in the park, has participated in many parades during the Merry Monarch weekends, Fourth of July and Veteran's Day amond others; hundreds of county-wide festivals and also provides music during public ceremonies. Their repertoire covers marches, music from Broadway shows, the movies, classical, semi-classical, jazz and blues, big band, pop tunes and Hawaiian music.

About three years ago, the band faced being disbanded (no pun intended) due to county administration budget cuts.  A county wide hue and cry was heard and eventually the county council reconsidered, saving the program.  

Our County Band is not just a little Podunk town band... it can be compared to any band anywhere in the country. 

The Hawai'i County Band represents Hawai'i and Hilo proudly and I hope to see it preserved for ever. 

The band's Mo'oheau monthly schedule for the rest of 2013 - always on a Saturday:

March 9, April 13, May 4, June 8, July 4, August 10, September 14, October 5, November 2 and December 7

Dates are subject to change - to confirm please call the band office at 961-8699

You can find them on Facebook under Hawai'i County Band

If you wonder about the red checked fabric used for the band uniforms, you can find information here about the palaka, as it is called in Hawaiian.

 

 

Honolulu Symphony visits the Big Island

 

The Honolulu Symphony came to the Big Island this week. 

 

Since their arrival on the island, they have visited several schools and performed for the school children around the Hilo and Keau'u areas, including a morning concert at the Kamehameha School auditorium in Kea'au where we attended last night's concert.

 

On the way to Kea'au, we picked up our friends Kele and Frank, who rode with us and we joined up with our friend Trevella and her daughter Tavina at the school auditorium.

 

The concert was in one word...WOW!  I wish I could have taken pics to just show you and recorded it so you could listen to what a packed house experienced last evening!

 

The audience was composed of people from all ages and from all ethnicities as all events are on the Big Island, everyone dressed informally, including the Symphony members who wore matching aloha wear instead of formal black tie.

 

Our friend Kele (Gerald DeOreo) was in his element.  At one time he was part of the Honolulu Symphony and also served as a conductor.  He was like a kid in a candy store and was able to see and visit with some of the long-time members of the Symphony who were his friends and colleagues at one time.  They were all making plans to meet up for breakfast this morning.

 

There will be concerts held in Waimea (Kamuela) and on the Kona side - check their schedule by clicking on the Honolulu Symphony link below.

 

Not all of the Symphony members were able to come on this trip, but they had a large group here.  Ana Krinitsky, is a fairly young woman who served as guest conductor.  Her style is restrained but really wonderful....no large histrionic movements from her.....

 

I was enthralled by the 'first chair' in the violin section.  His whole being was wrapped into his playing and not once did I notice his back touch the back of his chair.

 

Some of the older symphony members have been a part of it for at least 30 years, but there are a lot of younger members also.

 

There are three chamber groups made up of symphony members.  You can see details on these sub-groups here:

http://www.chambermusichawaii.com/

The Symphony Home Page:

http://www.honolulusymphony.com/

 

 

The music on the program was all from well-known and some not so well-known American composers....some still living. One selection was composed by a present day Hawaii composer and it was about "Lo'ihi: Birth of an Island" - Lo'ihi, is the newest island in the Hawaiian chain forming on the bottom of the ocean a bit SE off the Coast of the Big Island was a very moving piece. 

 

The program in order:

Samuel Barber                Overture to the School for Scandal 

(1910-1981)

 

George Gershwin            Porgy and Bess: Selections

(1898-1937)                        Summertime; I Got Plenty o'Nuttin; Bess, You is My Woman Now; Oh, I Can't Sit Down; There's a Boat Dat's Leavin' Soon for New York; It Ain't Necessarily So; Oh, Lord, I'm On My Way.

 

Byron Yasul                    Lo'ihi: Birth of an Island

(1940- )

 

Robert Beaser                Two Movements from Folksongs

(1954- )                                IV. Ground 0 (Homage to 9/11 Victims)

                                                V. Cindy Redux (A romp through Kentucky's Blue Grass)

 

INTERMISSION

 

Aaron Copland                Fanfare for the Common Man

(1900-1990)

 

Leonard Bernstein        West Side Story Selections:

(1918-1990)                        I Feel Pretty; Maria; Something's Coming; Tonight; One hand, One Heart; Cool; America

 

Morton Gould                Pavanne (from American Symphonette, #2

(1913-1996)

 

John Williams                Music from Harry Potter:

(1932- )                                I.Hedwig's Theme

                                                II. A Bridge to the Past

                                                    III. Harry's Wondrous World

 

Henry Berger                    Hawai'i Pono'i

(1844-1928)                                The audience stood while singing

King David Kalakaua

(1836-1891)

 

 

The last selection, Hawai'i Pono'i is the "Anthem of Hawaii" - read the story, of how the music became to be composed by a German and the words written by King David Kalakaua (the last king of Hawai'i)

 

After his death, his sister, Princess Lydia Lili'uokalani Kawānanakoa became Queen Lili'okalani, the last reigning monarch of Hawai'i.  She was also a very prolific and accomplished composer.  The well loved Aloha ʻOe (words in this first link) - Farewell to Thee  (sung by Tia Carrere in this last link) is one that most people recognize when they hear it, but the list of her compositions is impressive.

 

You can see the list by clicking HERE

 

 

Hear the music and read both the Hawaiian and English versions of the Hawai'i Anthem here:

http://www.huapala.org/Hawaii/Hawaii_Ponoi.html

 

A huge Mahalo nui loa to the TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) and the Hawai'i Department of Human Services who by furnishing grants make it possible for the symphony to travel to the neighbor islands and for the residents of the neighbor islands to experience events like last night's for free.

 

The weather has been frightful for at least the last 10 days, but Mother Nature seemed to make amends by dispersing the clouds, stopping the rains and gicing us a clear and gorgeous last night with a beautiful moon and a sky full of stars....first time any of us had seen them in quite a while... Short respite...it is back to frightful again!