The Hawaii Concert Society’s 2020-21 season of fine music has been on hold due to the COVID pandemic , but is now beginning to take shape. It promises to be unlike any of the Society’s 58 previous seasons. Instead of live performances in Hilo, it will consist of personalized recorded concerts by world-renowned artists, many of whom have taken part in recent Concert Society seasons.
“Six months ago our organization’s board was cautiously optimistic that we would be able to present a somewhat abbreviated 2020-21 season of live fine music and dance,“ says Tom Geballe, president of the Hawaii Concert Society. “We had tentatively booked several concerts for Hilo back then.”
“However, the pandemic appears to be far from over,” he continued. “Our performance venue, The University of Hawaii at Hilo Performing Arts Center, remains closed to the general public, and it is not clear when it will open, what safety precautions would be required, whether visiting artists would have to quarantine, and how many of our normal audience would feel safe attending live concerts.”
Meanwhile, Hawaii Concert Society membership renewals and a grant from the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts have provided the financial wherewithal to support a modest season of concerts. The board recently decided to invite selected artists to record personalized concerts specifically for members.
The concerts will be made available to HCS members via private YouTube channels, using addresses that HCS will provide to its members. The concerts will be available for viewing for predetermined and extended periods of time, so that members can select convenient times for viewing and even can view them more than once.
Currently the season consists of just two concerts, but more are expected to be added soon. The first, which will available in mid-November, will be by Trio con Brio Copenhagen. In addition to the music, the musicians will add a personal touch, giving viewers a brief tour of their homes in Copenhagen, which contain memorabilia from their previous Hawaii tours.
The second is the husband and wife duo of virtuoso pianists, Ran Dank and Soyeon Lee. Their concert will be available in mid-January.
Lee and Dank’s program is not yet known, but it is expected to be a combination of piano solo and four-hand works, and to include lively conversation about the music and about their lives. In agreeing to create the concert, Ran Dank writes, “we look forward to re-connecting with the wonderful people of the Society in virtual form!”
The only requirement for “attending” these concerts is to be a member of the Hawaii Concert Society for the 2020-21 season. Membership dues start at $20. To become a member, visit www.hawaiiconcertsociety.com.
“The generosity of our many members who have already renewed their memberships for 2020- 21 or have joined for the first time is making this unusual season possible,” says Geballe.
