The Hawaii Concert Society is returning to in-person events next week with a live concert by longtime Hilo favorite, pianist Joyce Yang.
On May 31, Yang will perform for a live audience starting at 7:30 p.m. at the University of Hawaii at Hilo Performing Arts Center.
“To East Hawaii’s classical music aficionados it may seem like forever since the Hawaii Concert Society has presented live concerts,” said HCS President Tom Geballe. “They have missed the excitement, emotion and intimacy of sharing some of the greatest classical compositions with others in the audience and with musicians of national and international renown.”
HCS has been hosting virtual performances since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and finally has a plan for a full, live season of music.
“We’re a little rusty, and the university has a few restrictions we’re not used to dealing with, but we’re all working together to get back to a regular season,” Geballe said. “There is nothing like the experience of being in a concert hall, close to the artist while they share the music. It’s different than listening to a CD or watching a video. You can feel the emotion and beauty even more.”
Hilo audiences have been watching and listening to Yang for over 15 years. She has performed in three previous Hawaii Concert Society as a soloist and one as a member of a chamber music ensemble.
“I think the best performance is when people don’t even know I’m there; when the connection between music and the audience is so intense that the performer doesn’t exist,” Yang said. “When I’m playing, that’s the highest goal for me.”
Yang’s Hilo concert will include a short composition by Mozart, several Rachmaninoff preludes, a Tchaikovsky composition, and Franz Liszt B minor sonata, which is 30 minutes of unbroken music.
Tickets for the concert are $10 and are available at the Most Irresistible Shop and Music Exchange. Attendance is limited to 300 and seating is unreserved.
Masks are optional and any remaining tickets will be available at the door from 6:45 p.m. For more information, call 959-4064, or visit hawaiiconcertsociety.com.