Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra to launch livestream concerts Sept. 26
With in-person performance shut down by the pandemic, the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra is going online with its new season next weekend.
The orchestra is replacing its usual Masterworks concert series at Blaisdell Concert Hall with a new series called “Sounds of Resilience,” which will feature its first concert “Galaxy of Strings” at 7:30 p.m. on Sept 26. The concert will be streamed live from the Hawaii Theatre Center stage in a pay-per-view performance. More online performances are being planned for the rest of the fall, with obstacles like streaming rights and permissions for new works adding a layer of complexity to scheduling a program.
“It’s a new challenge every day,” said Dave Moss, the executive director of the orchestra.
“Galaxy of Strings” will feature the Hawaii premiere of “Starburst,” a work by Jessie Montgomery, a composer who is at the forefront of the diversity and equity issue in classical music today. As a violinist, she won the 1999 award for violinists from the Sphinx Organization, a Detroit-based organization that promotes diversity and inclusion in the arts, and has gone on to compose music as well.
Moss called “‘Starburst” “a tremendous little piece for strings, and that’s how we went down the path of ‘Galaxy of Strings.’ ”
Orchestra fans will also enjoy the fleet fingers of symphony harpist Constance Uejio performing Handel’s “Symphony No. 4” for harp and Tchaikovsky’s graceful “Serenade for Strings.” Concertmaster Iggy Jang will lead an ensemble of 17 string musicians.
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Tickets are $20 and can be purchased via the symphony’s new website, myhso.org/sounds-of-resilience or hawaiitheatre.com. A link will be emailed to ticket buyers, who can use it to access the concert on a single device at the appointed time. Those who have already purchased a subscription for this year’s symphony season will also receive the link at no additional cost.