Punahou School

Love and music were on Evening Concert for Valentine’s Day. Punahou School music instructors Steven Casano and Helen Chao-Casano talked about their love of music and each other as married partners. Both are pianists. Steven teaches shakuhachi and Helen is the music director of Punahou’s Music School.

Pianists Sophie Chan and Justin Chan are winners of the Kamuela Philharmonic Madeline Schatz-Harris Youth Concerto Competition in the 16 - 18 age bracket. The siblings are juniors at Punahou School and study under Dr. Wendy Yamashita. In this weekend's concert at Kahilu Theatre, the twins will play Camille Saint-Saens' The Carnival of the Animals. https://kamuelaphil.org

Now a Junior at Punahou School, Ashley revisits HPR's Tuesday Student Takeover. In the year since we last spoke with her, she has played through many piano concerti, and is preparing the 2nd movement of Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20 for a concert with the Oahu Civic Orchestra on December 7th. Ikeda adds onto her advice for young musicians and families that she gave last year, and adds a note of thanks to her teachers.

Now a 10th grader at Punahou School, pianist & violinist Aya Okimoto revisits Tuesday Student Takeover with her new nonprofit organization, The World Wave Music Festival.

Punahou graduate, Shane Komeiji was a soloist with the Hawaiʻi Youth Symphony and the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra. The winner of the Nā Hōkū ‘Ōpio “Young Stars” studied flute and voice, and will be attending Harvard University in the fall.

Brian Johnson won the American Go Foundation Teacher of the Year award last week. He's the first Hawai'i resident to receive the award since its creation in 1996.

Deanna Wen makes good on her promise a year ago to come back to Classical Pacific. Wen is now an 11th grader at Punahou School, and she and her teacher Duane Padilla return with music, advice and experiences to share. Listen to Deanna's 2023 Tuesday Student Takeover.

Tommy Morrison is the Principal Bassoonist with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. Tommy Morrison talks about his upcoming concert at the Atherton Performing Arts Studio and his life in Hawaii.

Violist Keon Sagara is a graduate of Punahou School and visits Classical Pacific while on Winter Break after his first semester at Eastman School of Music. Keon shares valuable advice with students looking to apply and audition to music schools and programs.

Ashley Ikeda plays the piano, sings, arranges music and plays percussion at Punahou School. The tenth grader tells us about the music that she is working on, her arranging, and teaching elementary students how to play music.