Atherton Concerts - Hawaiʻi Classical Performance Series (2024)
Our HPR Atherton concert series returns with a celebration of classical music! Join us in person at our Honolulu studio for the <b>Hawaiʻi Classical Performance Series</b> with Saturday evening performances at the Atherton Performing Arts Studio. Featuring: Bardin-Niskala Duo, Gahlord Dewald, Shawn Conley, and Tommy Morrison.
Don’t miss your chance to hear their intimate performances and exclusive setlists in person at our Honolulu studio at 738 Kāheka Street. These performances will be recorded for future broadcasts and online content. All proceeds from each event support the featured artists. Click here to access tickets to all concerts in this series.
Featured artists:
Jan 6. - Bardin-Niskala Duo (piano, cello)
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Program: Transcriptions for cello and piano of beloved vocal works by Dvorak, Mahler, and Clara Schumann, alongside new works by Reena Esmail, Yvonne Wu, Michael-Thomas Foumai, and Melissa Dunphy. These new works are all inspired by folk and children's songs from the composers' cultural heritages.
About the artists: Playing together since 2016, cellist An-Lin Bardin and pianist Naomi Niskala joined as a duo in 2021 in response to the rise in anti-Asian violence and hate crimes across the United States. Through commissioned works by ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and Native American) composers, the Duo aims to encourage composers to celebrate their racial heritage and embark on the journey to discover where and how they belong.
Jan. 13 - Gahlord Dewald (double bass)
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Program: Experimental musician Gahlord Dewald gives world and regional premieres of new works by Leilehua Lanzilotti, Rajna Swaminathan, Delbert Anderson, and others. The performance will include a selection from his Wa‘ahila Ridge Series featuring field recordings and electronics with double bass.
About the artist: Gahlord Dewald is a creative musician exploring textural sound, gesture, and the elements of time on the double bass and electronics. His creative practice integrates community organizing, commissioning newly composed works, and experimental works revealing the physical nature of sound and community.
Jan. 20 - Shawn Conley (double bass)
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Program: I am so excited to present a concert that showcases two of my biggest musical loves, Bach and improvisation. I will be performing Bach’s first cello suite in G major surrounded by spontaneous improvisations. Please join me for a night full of some of the greatest music ever written, accompanied by musical explorations on the solo double bass.
About the artist: Hawaiʻi-born bassist and composer Shawn Conley grew up loving all types of music. This love of diversity of sound developed into a career that straddles many genres. He has been a member of the Silk Road Ensemble (founded by Yo-Yo Ma) for 10 years and is a member of the Brooklyn-based chamber orchestra The Knights. Recently, he won the principal bass position in the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra.
Jan. 27 - Tommy Morrison (bassoon)
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Program: Join us for a rare solo Bassoon performance with Thomas “Tommy” Morrison performing An arrangement of Stravinsky - Pulcinella/Suite Italienne, Jeff Scott - Elegy for Innocence, Charles Koechlin Bassoon Sonata and Lili Boulanger nocturne.
About the artist: Tommy Morrison is a bassoonist with a passion for collaboration and learning. A Northern New Jersey native, he has been serving in the role of Principal Bassoon with the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra and Hawaiʻi Opera Theater since 2017. As a passionate educator, Tommy is on the faculty of the Punahou Music School, The Pacific Music Institute, and the Mānoa School of Music and Art, in addition to being a frequent clinician for the Hawaiʻi Youth Symphony.
The <b>Hawaiʻi Classical Performance Series</b> took place each Saturday in January. 100% of the concert ticket proceeds from each event support the featured artists. Your support allows us to provide thriving broadcast, digital and in-person platforms for Hawaiʻi's artists.
Interested in more live music in the Atherton? Check out our Mele Hawaiʻi Performance Series concerts that took place in February and March 2024.
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Musician, Producer, Singer-Songwriter Deanna Wen is a senior at Punahou School. Wen first visited us in 2023, and again in 2024 each time with new music, great advice, and her teacher, Mr. Duane Padilla. Always experimenting, creating and challenging herself, Deanna Wen will be attending Claremont McKenna in the Fall, swimming and continuing her adventures.https://open.spotify.com/artist/5r63cP8PJzh3yWPYQr7YD2?si=6fRUp4LlSwSc83vi2HU0mA -
Dian Hermes of Waiʻalae Elementary Public Charter School seems to have the musical touch. As the Hawaiʻi representative for the Met Opera’s HD Live in Schools program, Hermes immerses her students in opera to make it more accessible. -
In the week leading up to National Decision Day—the deadline for students to commit to a college—Nicholas Hoshida visits Classical Pacific, excited to begin his next chapter as a music performance major. The ʻIolani senior reflects on his journey with the trombone, the ensembles he's played in, the music he's grown to love and the lessons he's learned along the way. -
One year after Classical Conservation Conversations began, Dr. Sean Lum reflects on the urgency of environmental action as the 2030 deadline for the UN Sustainable Development Goals approaches. He ties global challenges to the spiritual reflection of seasons like Ramadan and Lent, and shares simple ways to reconnect with Hawaiʻi’s ecosystems and sacred species. Listen as he invites us to reflect, take action, and honor our ancestors by caring for the land and sea.
