As a doctoral fellow with the Japan Foundation, Chris Molina is spending the academic year in Japan, researching the use of traditional Japanese instruments in contemporary music. He is based in Kawasaki at the Contemporary Hōgaku Institute at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music, collaborating with faculty members Kenji Yamaguchi (shakuhachi), Kōhei Nishikawa (fue), Tetsuya Nozawa (shamisen), Nobuto Yamanaka (tsugaru shamisen), …
Dr. Michael-Thomas Foumai has been hard at work preparing for the world premiere of his new piece, Raise Hawaiki. “Raise Hawaiki” will be premiered by the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra, Oʻahu Choral Society, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Choirs, Hawaiʻi Youth Opera Chorus, and the choral programs at Kapiʻolani Community College and Windward Community College on March 28, 2019 at 7:30 …
On Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, Dr. Takuma Itoh and other UH Mānoa faculty welcomed approximately 5000 young students to see the Symphony of the Hawaiian Birds at Blaisdell Concert Hall. The project, initiated by Dr. Itoh and professors in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources and the College of Education, and involved composers, artists, scientists, educators from …
The UH Mānoa Music Department hosts a conference entitled New Traditions: An International Exchange in Contemporary Music for Korean Instruments, February 16–19, 2017. The event is produced with support from the Center for Korean Studies at UH Mānoa. Visiting Korean instrument virtuosi from the US mainland and abroad will lead workshops on 21st century notational trends, traditional performance practices, and contemporary techniques. The conference …
UH Mānoa Composition graduate student Chris Molina worked alongside composers from Shanghai Conservatory, Yale University, the University of Cambridge, and from Poland and New Zealand to participate in the second annual Hearing China collaboration. From November 10–16, 2016, composers attended workshop training on Chinese instruments, an afternoon performance at the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Center, and daily interviews for a future …
Star performers from UH Mānoa present a one-time-only concert fusing Japanese bamboo flute with Chinese and Japanese zithers at the Doris Duke Theater September 17th at 7pm. Chris Molina (shakuhachi) is joined by Darin Miyashiro (koto) and Yi-chieh Lai (guzheng), as well as shakuhachi experts Steven Taizen Casano and Robert Herr. The program mixes pop, rock, and art music with …
In March 2016 UH Mānoa hosted a weeklong residency featuring the exceptional musicianship of the renowned Tokyo-based Japanese instrument ensemble Pro Musica Nipponia. Each year the UH Mānoa Composition Area arranges for a residency of visiting performers of East Asian instruments, a project that has been one of the cornerstones of Music Department culture at UH Mānoa for the past …
Music fans of multiple stripes were given a treat this past June with the world premiere of professor emeritus Byron Yasui’s Concerto for ‘Ukulele and Orchestra, Campanella. International superstar Jake Shimabukuro took the stage with the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of JoAnn Falletta, to the thrill of the audience. Yasui’s exciting and intricately crafted score ranged from sublimely …
In February the University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa Music Department and the East-West Center hosted the Chinese Music Virtuosi, an ensemble made up of some of Hong Kong’s finest performers and teachers. The group, which performs on traditional Chinese instruments, has toured extensively performing both contemporary and traditional repertoire. While at UH Mānoa, the ensemble took part in a number of presentations …