Sharene Keliʻipunilei Lum Taba
Host, Classical PacificSharene Keli`ipunilei Lum Taba is a harpist and is married to Jazz bassist and educator, Dean Taba. They have two full-grown children: daughter Matin is a classical bassist in Portland, Oregon, and son Josh and his wife, Baijun, are both artists in Providence, Rhode Island.
The Tabas spend their free time listening to music, walking with their pomchi Ube, and watching Dodgers baseball.
He mea ho‘okani hāpa ‘o Sharene Keli‘ipunilei Lum Taba a ua male iā Dean Taba, he kumu a he kanaka ho‘okani waiolina kū nui (bass) ma ke ‘ano jazz. ‘Elua a lāua keiki o‘o mai - kekahi kaikamahine ‘o Matin, he mea ho‘okani waiolina kū nui ma ke ‘ano classical ma ‘Olekona, a kekahi keikikāne ‘o Josh. He artist ‘o Josh me kāna wahine nō ho‘i a noho lāua ma Rode ‘Ailana. Ma nā wā ka‘awale, puni ka ‘ohana Taba i ka ho‘olohe mele, i ka hele wāwae ‘ana me kā lāua ‘īlio pomchi ‘o Ube, a i ka nānā ‘ana i nā pā‘ani pōhili o ka Dodgers.
(Hawaiian translation: Kumu U`ilani Bobbitt)
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Harvey Pittel is in Honolulu this week for 2 masterclasses and a concert, all free and presented by the Hawaii Saxophone Foundation. Classical Pacific host, Sharene Taba was truly honored to be able to speak with Mr. Pittel. They discuss the unforgettable concert she heard him play years ago, his beginnings in music, and his friends and former students, Todd Yukumoto and Allen Won of the Royal Hawaiian Band. https://www.hawaiisaxophonefoundation.org -
Executive Director of Ballet Hawaii, Richard Vida talks with Classical Pacific host Sharene Taba about the upcoming Ballet Hawaii performance at the Honolulu Museum of Art. A Night at the Paris Opera Ballet has 18 ballet dancers bringing to life, the paintings of Mary Cassatt. www.ballethawaii.orgwww.honolulumuseum.org/events -
Sisters Emma Belatti and Elyana Belatti join "Classical Pacific" host Sharene Taba in a conversation about growing up in ballet. The dancers with Ballet Hawaii will be in this weekendʻs performance of A Night at the Paris Opera Ballet, bringing the paintings of Mary Cassatt to life at the Honolulu Museum of Art. Emma is at the University of Hawai`i-Manoa, minoring in dance, and Ely is in the 10th grade at Roosevelt High School. The sisters have their own paths in life, but they always include dance, and each other. -
Legendary jazz drummer Danny Gottlieb and studio musician/percussionist Beth Gottlieb are both members of the Lt. Dan Band. Led by philanthropist, actor and bassist Gary Sinise, the Lt. Dan Band performs with the Gottliebs this weekend in a free concert at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. The Gottliebs speak with Classical Pacific host Sharene Taba about the Lt. Dan Band, the Gary Sinise Foundation, and honoring veterans, first responders, and their families. -
Live From the Athertonʻs Classical Series presents The Honolulu Brass Quintet. The 2025 Classical Series ends with a fortissimo! Anna Lenhart (french horn) and David Nakazono (trumpet) talk to Classical Pacific host Sharene Taba about choosing the program, the music and the friendships. The Chamber Music Hawai`i ensemble, The Honolulu Brass Quintet performs on Saturday, August 30th.www.hawaiipublicradio/events -
A harpist with Hawai`i Youth Symphonyʻs YSI orchestra, Arabella Tan recently participated in a summer STEM program at MIT and is back home to work on WikiVisionʻs upcoming fundraising concert at ʻIolaniʻs Seto Hall. The free concert features student performers and raises money through donations to help uninsured and underinsured patients cover cataract surgery and post-op support. -
Harpist Megan Conley will be in concert at Hawaiʻi Public Radio's Live From the Atherton Classical Music Performance Series. The program will feature music by composers Claude Debussy, Leilehua Lanzilotti and Takuma Itoh. -
Milton Lau, organizer of the 43rd Annual Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Festival - Waikiki Style, invites listeners to enjoy great music under the stars at the Waikiki Aquarium, or online.facebook.com/slackkeyfestivals -
Maestro Andrew Grams is in Hawaiʻi to lead the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra in the 2025 Sheraton Summer Festival Grand Finale Weekend. On Friday, Olgar Kern performs Beethoven, and on Sunday, the orchestra joins the final stage of the Keʻalohi International Piano Competition. Unsure which concerti the finalists will choose, Grams brought multiple scores. With his experience having conducted each piano concerto, he'll help create the best orchestral performance for the each soloist. -
When Olga Kern won the Gold Medal prize of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, she was a new mother and hardly slept. Now on the piano faculty at the Manhattan School of Music and the Artistic Director and President of the Olga Kern International Piano Competition, Kern joins Classical Pacific host Sharene Taba in a conversation about Beethoven piano concerti, piano competitions and supporting young artists. Olga Kern is in Honolulu for the Grand Finale Weekend of Hawai`i Symphony Orchestraʻs Sheraton Summer Festival 2025.
