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Craig DeSilva

Host of Evening Concert

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.

Craig got his start in radio as a news reporter and announcer on Hawaiʻi Public Radio and has filed stories for many national radio programs, including National Public Radio, Public Radio International, and Voice of America. Off the public radio airwaves, he’s written for Hawaii Business magazine and was assistant editor for Pacific Islands Report at the East-West Center.

Heʻs currently employed as a corporate writer at HMSA and writes for Island Scene magazine. Craig is a proud supporter of local arts and culture in Hawaiʻi. He serves on the volunteer board for Honolulu Chamber Music Series. And he enjoys sharing music on Evening Concert that highlights arts events in the Islands -- your requests are welcome.

  • When Canadian violinist Timothy Chooi first started learning Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, he realized why many violinists called it “too long and unplayable.” But after years of working on it, the concerto is now his go to for concerts. Chooi spoke to Evening Concert host Craig DeSilva about his debut with the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra for the Tchaikovsky Spectacular concert Saturday, July 26 at the Waikīkī Shell.
  • 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. HSO Composer in Residence Michael-Thomas Foumai stopped by Evening Concert for behind-the-scenes insights into HSO’s Tchaikovsky Spectacular concert this weekend.
  • Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra’s Composer in Residence Michael-Thomas Foumai is a huge movie fan. He stopped by Evening Concert to share his favorite scenes and music from two hit films, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark and How to Train Your Dragon. The HSO will feature these films while performing the movie scores in concerts this week as part of the Summer Festival 2025 concert series.
  • Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra’s Michael-Thomas Foumai previews this weekend’s HSO concerts, featuring a hapai Joyce Yang performing Rachmaninoff’s popular Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. He tells host Craig DeSilva why Johannes Brahms took 20 years to write his first symphony. And he talks about a concert with his good friend and music collaborator, Uncle “K” – Keola Beamer, who’ll be performing slack-key guitar with Jeff Peterson. Also, hear a preview of HSO’s Summer Festival and how you can attend a free concert at Kailua District Park.
  • Dr. Youhei Imoto is a Honolulu physical therapist who recently rekindled his love of playing the piano. He’s performed in a competition for amateur pianists at Carnegie Hall in New York City and will compete this summer at Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Imoto spoke to Craig DeSilva on Evening Concert about being inspired by the music of Beethoven, Chopin, and – yes – Disney.
  • Japanese anime is all the craze in Hawaiʻi. Anime audiences love both the visuals and the music score composed by Joe Hisaishi. Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra will perform music from films by Studio Ghibli, one of Japan’s leading animation studios. HSO’s Michael-Thomas Foumai, who’ll be conducting the concert, and Totoro, one of the stars of the film My Neighbor Totoro, gave a sneak peek on Evening Concert.
  • 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.
  • Hawaiʻi Public Radio has launched another series of Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra broadcasts. John Kalani Zak, host and producer of the HSO broadcasts, gave a preview on Evening Concert with host Craig DeSilva. You can hear the concert broadcasts on Mondays at 8 p.m. following Evening Concert on HPR-2.
  • The music of Queen Liliʻuokalani will be celebrated in concerts by the Mana Music Quartet. The concerts will feature the songs of Hawaiʻi’s last monarch in arrangements for string quartet, including her popular Aloha ʻOe.
  • Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra’s concertmaster Iggy Jang and principal horn Anna Lenhart take the spotlight this weekend. The HSO concert will feature them as soloists performing two beloved works in the violin and horn repertoire.