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Classical Music Conversations

HSO Tchaikovsky Concert Preview

Hawaiʻi Public Radio | By Craig DeSilva

Published July 24, 2025 at 5:35 PM HST

Cannons won’t be fired throughout Kapiolani Park. But the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra will give a similar-sounding treatment that’s made Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture so appealing for the past 145 years. No Honolulu Zoo lions, tigers, and monkeys will be scared in the making of this concert. HSO Composer in Residence Michael-Thomas Foumai stopped by Evening Concert for behind-the-scenes insights into HSO’s Tchaikovsky Spectacular concert this weekend. The all-Tchaikovsky program will feature waltzes, a fantasy tone poem, and Canadian violinist Timothy Chooi performing Violin Concerto in D major. Foumai also talks about arranging reggae music for orchestra for the Kapena Live concert with Kelly Boy De Lima and his family.

Kapena Live
Friday, July 25, 20257:30 p.m.
Tom Moffatt Waikiki Shell

Tchaikovsky Spectacular
Saturday, July 26, 20257:30 p.m.
Tom Moffatt Waikiki Shell

Classical Music Conversations

Craig DeSilva

Craig DeSilva is glad to be playing recorded music on the air instead of playing for a live audience on stage as did when he studied piano. He began piano lessons when he was a child and continued piano studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (where he majored in broadcast journalism and minored in music) under the late Peter Coraggio.

See stories by Craig DeSilva

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Violinist Timothy Chooi Masters Tchaikovsky

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