The Hawaii Concert Society has announced its 2024-2025 season of classical music and dance.
Seven concerts are scheduled, all at the UH-Hilo Performing Arts Center. The artists who will perform range from ones who long have been acknowledged as some of the world’s greatest, to gifted young artists who are just now achieving world recognition.
The season will open on Oct. 18 with virtuoso pianist with Hawaiian roots, Van Cliburn gold medalist Jon Nakamatsu. Nakamatsu, has performed in Hilo several times during the previous two decades. This time he is not performing just as a soloist, but also with Honolulu’s Galliard String Quartet.
Following them, in early November, will be the Escher String Quartet, the 2013 winner of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and one of the world’s premiere young quartets.
In late January and early February, two trios will perform widely different music. The intriguingly named ensemble Gut, Wind, and Wire will bring early (ca. 1600) music from Europe, which they will perform on period instruments.
Japan’s young, award-winning Aoi Piano Trio, who already has garnered considerable acclaim both in their native country and in Germany, will be making its first USA appearances in our state.
In late February, the Society will present a violin concert by the 24-year old American phenom, Nathan Meltzer, who is both a protégé of Midori (who performed in Hilo last season) and a student of Itzhak Perlman. Critics have called Meltzer’s playing “stunning,” “gorgeous,” and “dreamlike.”
In mid-May a more experienced, but equally electrifying soloist, pianist Ilya Yakushev, will be the final performer of the season. His artistry has been described as “eloquent, ranging from the cataclysmic to the poetic, with many passages of extreme beauty.”
It has been eight years since the Hawaii Concert Society presented a flamenco performance, and the Society’s board has received numerous requests that it do so again. In mid-March, this wish will be fulfilled when the Society and the UH-Hilo Performing Arts Center co-present Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana, once again immersing a Hilo audience in the passionate and disciplined world of that centuries-old Spanish art form.
The season brochure providing additional information is now available. As in the past, season tickets may be ordered using the form in the brochure, or by using the order form at hawaiiconcertsociety.com or the form on the Society’s Facebook page.
Despite the high inflation, ticket prices have not changed since 2015. Full season tickets are $144 for general admission, $116 for seniors (60 and older), and $60 for students; each is a 20% savings off box-office prices.
Ticket orders for any custom-designed mini-series of at least four concerts also may be specified and also are available at reduced prices.
The brochure, which has been mailed to past and present Society members, previous season ticket holders, and a large number of Hilo residents and businesses, is available at the East Hawaii Cultural Center or by phoning 959-4064.
To obtain tickets by return mail before the first concert, orders should be received on or before Thursday, Oct. 10. Otherwise, they may be picked up at the box office on the evening of the first concert, Oct. 18.
The Hawaii Concert Society acknowledges the generosity of its members, the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, and the Western States Arts Federation for helping to make the 2024-25 season possible.