Cavatina pairs flute, guitar

The combination of flute and guitar can produce a wide variety of musical colors, moods and expressions and is popular among performers, composers, and listeners. On Tuesday, April 24, the Hawaii Concert Society will conclude its golden anniversary season when the Cavatina Duo performs at the University of Hawaii at Hilo Performing Arts Center.

The Cavatina Duo has captivated audiences with its performances around the world. However, its members, Eugenia Moliner (from Spain) and Denis Azabagic (from Bosnia), did not originally intend to perform together. “Eugenia went to study in the Netherlands, because she had heard that there was a great flute school there,” says Azabagic. “In the summer of 1991 war broke out in the former Yugoslavia. I went to the Netherlands to avoid it. I went to the same conservatory, so that’s how we met.”

Moliner had studied to become an orchestral flute player, Azabagic to be a guitar soloist. The couple enjoyed playing together, but when they moved to the U.S. in 1999, they had not yet conceived the idea of establishing themselves as a formal duo. That changed after a concert they gave in Bloomington, Indiana. “A friend came up to me afterward and said ‘You are a soloist, not an orchestral player,’” says Moliner. “I thought ‘Are you reading my mind?’”

The Cavatina Duo’s Hilo concert will include music by Bach, Debussy, and Piazzola, works dedicated to the duo by American composer Alan Thomas, Serbian composer Miroslav Tadic and Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu’s “Towards the Sea,” commissioned by Greenpeace.

The April 24 concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets ($15 general, $12 senior, $7 student) are available at the Most Irresistible Shop, MJS Music, Book Gallery, Music Exchange, the UHH Box Office, and the East Hawaii Cultural Center. Tickets will also be available at the door. For more information call 959-4064, or visit www.hawaiiconcertsociety.com.