Gene Schiller
Music Director; Host, Morning ConcertGene Schiller joined HPR in September, 1993 as a board operator. His first break came when he was asked to fill in for Music Director Alan Bunin. Six months later, he became the new host of Evening Concert, a program that runs on HPR-2 from 6 to 8 p.m. on weeknights.
In 1996, Gene was invited to take over the Sunday morning classical program, Sunday Brunch, which at the time was scheduled from 10 to noon. "About three years later, I turned it into a request program," he recalls, "and soon after that it was expanded to run from 9 to noon, still in the request format."
Gene, who continues on Sunday Brunch, now hosts Morning Cafe and Morning Concert every morning from 8:00 a.m. to noon. All three are regularly scheduled local classical programs heard on HPR-2.
Gene was named HPR's Music Director in 2001.
He was born in Los Angeles, and his family moved to Hawaiʻi in 1959 just as he entered the third grade. He's lived here ever since, attending St. Louis and then Kaimuki High School. Gene has been in radio for 18 years. He originally joined KORL as a host for a big band show. "I come from a family of musicians," he recalls, "and I am the only member who isn't a musician, doesn't read music or play an instrument - but I've always been a good listener."
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Concert organist Katelyn Emerson stopped by Morning Café to share about her upcoming performances in Honolulu and Kapa'a.
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Dr. Helen Liu, violinist with Honolulu’s Galliard String Quartet, stops in for a visit on Morning Café to discuss the group’s upcoming in-person concerts.
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Ian Capps joins host Gene Schiller to discuss Early Music Hawaii's latest offering: a live-stream featuring medieval specialists Calextone who bring to life the music, readings, and illustrations from Giovanni Boccacio's "Decameron," with songs and dances by 14th century Florentine composers.
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Clarinetist Jim Moffitt joins Gene Schiller on Morning Café to share about the Spring Wind Quintet's upcoming concert series with Chamber Music Hawai‘i.
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Morning Café, classical music host Gene Schiller interviews violinist Kristin Lee, who joins the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra this weekend, playing Haydn, Fung, and Stravinsky.
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Tune in to quality time spent with acclaimed conductor JoAnn Falletta on Morning Café. Gene Schiller and Falletta discuss the January 2 return concert at the Blaisdell, the Hawai‘i Symphony’s first in over a year.
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Hornist Anna Lenhart and trumpeter Zach Silberschlag of Chamber Music Hawai‘i chat with Morning Café's Gene Shiller. They share about this weekend’s upcoming Holiday Brass Quintet concert at the Cathedral of St. Andrew.
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JoAnn Falletta joins Gene Schiller on Morning Café to discuss Beethoven’s 9th Symphony – it’s the Hawaiʻi Symphony’s first concert of the New Year!
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Composer Jon Magnussen and oboist Scott Janusch discuss “Na Kau Elua” (Two Seasons) – a special commission of the Hawaiian Oboe Legacy Project, set to premiere this weekend at the Blaisdell Concert Hall.
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Conductor Emmanuel Plasson drops in on Morning Café to discuss Puccini’s “Tosca” along with future plans for Hawaii Opera Theater.