Marsha Schweitzer, Lecturer in Bassoon at UH-Manoa, is also a music arranger of some repute and is being honored by the Monarch Chamber Players of Houston, Texas, in their season finale concerts on May 16 and 17, 2026.
The Monarchs will perform two of Schweitzerʻs longest and most difficult arrangements at these concerts, Schoenberg’s Verklarte Nacht and Mendelssohn’s Octet. Both works were originally written for string ensembles, re-orchestrated by Schweitzer for wind instruments.
“Arrangers are accustomed to remaining in the background,” Schweitzer said, “giving the original composers the limelight. There are just a few composers whose works warrant having an entire program devoted to them – Beethoven, Brahms, or Tchaikovsky, perhaps. So, to have an entire program devoted to my arrangements is a rare and humbling honor.”
Monarch Chamber Players is a collective of Houston-based professional musicians committed to taking classical chamber music out of the concert hall and into accessible community spaces. Monarch is a member of the Texas Touring Roster and currently presents over 50 concerts annually. The ensemble has brought classical music to over 25 Houston neighborhoods, performing at a variety of venues including parks, churches, farms, gas stations, traditional indoor venues, and front porches.
Rodel Domingoʻs article “What non-ensemble music course most influenced your growth as a music teacher, and why?” was published in the October 2025 issue of Teaching Music, NAfME’s national music education journal.
“John Donaldson, a member of the NAfME staff team, reached out to me about contributing a quote for the October issue of Teaching Music magazine, focusing on a ‘non-music ensemble course that influenced my growth as a music teacher,” stated Domingo. “I chose to reflect on MUS457: Asian and Pacific in Education. This course was my first opportunity to teach in front of a class and it helped me develop a strong sense of advocacy for music education in Hawaiʻi. I knew that many readers might be unfamiliar with Hawaiʻi’s music education landscape, and because the magazine is distributed nationally, I saw this as a meaningful opportunity to highlight how we, as Hawaiʻi music educators, approach our curriculum, nurture our keiki, and intentionally weave the spirit of aloha into every lesson.”
Domingo is a music education senior and president of the UH NAfME (National Association for Music Education) chapter.
Jun Yi Chow, Music Composition PhD student, has been name a recipient of the John Young Scholarship in the Arts, the University of Hawaiiʻs most prestigious private scholarship.
“Being a John Young Scholarship recipient is especially meaningful because it reflects the values that first drew me to UH—openness, intercultural dialogue, and deep artistic curiosity,” states Jun Yi Chow. “This support allows me to continue developing my dissertation, Reimagining Homescapes, a project that explores home, memory, and cultural belonging through music composition. It gives me the stability to focus more fully on this next phase and maintain the momentum needed to bring the project to fruition.”
This award honors the memory of one Hawaiʻi’s most beloved and important artists, John Chin Young a prominent artist known for his vibrant and expressive paintings that captured the spirit and culture of Hawaii.
Reposted from University of Hawaii News:
Joseph Stepec, an associate professor of music at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, has been named to the 2024 40 under 40 list by Pacific Business News.
Stepec serves as the music director of the UH Mānoa Symphony Orchestra, director of the Hawaiʻi Youth Symphony’s Symphony Program and artistic director of the Pacific Music Institute.
He was recognized alongside the other recipients at a ceremony on August 29, at the ʻAlohilani Resort Waikiki Beach.
“I feel very honored to be among so many leaders in our wonderful state of Hawaiʻi,” Stepec said. “I’ve been very active in the community since I came to Hawaiʻi eight years ago. Specifically, this award is being given to me to acknowledge my work with the Youth Symphony. I work with youth across the state and many of them come to UH after working with me so I get to see them thrive.”
The 2024 40 under 40 class marks the 25th year of the award, and recipients represent a variety of industries, including restaurants, finance, nonprofits, retail, travel and more. The annual award recognizes emerging leaders from throughout the state for achievements in their careers and contributions to the community.
More about Stepec
Stepec has worked closely with countless artists and regularly hosts clinics for ensembles in Hawaiʻi, across the country and abroad in China. He has maintained a close relationship with the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra and has been a frequent guest artist in their popular ʻOhana Concert Series.
In addition to leading orchestras, Stepec also maintains an active and varied teaching schedule. He teaches a private conducting course and violin studio at UH Mānoa.
Stepec studied violin performance at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and orchestral conducting at the Eastman School of Music.
The University of Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra (The UHSO) will be giving a sneak-peak performance on Saturday, October 21st of its fall program in the Art Auditorium on the campus of UHM from 12:30 to 1pm! The orchestra will be performing music from the symphonic pops literature including: selections from Andrew Lloyd Webber and the music of Berlioz and Bizet’s much loved opera, Carmen! The UHSO is open to all majors (music and non-music!) on the campus of UHM and is directed by Joseph Stepec. This concert is free and features the orchestra as a part of UHM’s Discover UH Mānoa experience, where all departments in the College of Arts, Languages and Letters will be demonstrating their talents!
The orchestra will be performing again on Sunday, November 26th at McKinley High School Auditorium in works by Johannes Brahms and Dmitri Shostakovich with cello-soloist and UHM Professor of Music, Dr. I-Bei Lin.
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Symphony Orchestra members are not letting COVID-19 restrictions stop them from sharing the gift of music. Under the direction of Director and Assistant Professor Joseph Stepec, the fall 2020 ensemble presented a virtual performance of “Queen’s Anthem” by Denny Miyasato and arranged by Michael-Thomas Foumai, a UH Mānoa music lecturer. The piece features six-time Grammy nominee and 18-time Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award winner Amy Hānaialiʻi.
“They loved it. It was awesome—what an experience,” Stepec said. “She came into class at the beginning of the semester and everyone got to meet her and she spoke to the students a little bit and it was just a wonderful experience.”
Stepec, who has worked on performances with Hānaialiʻi, said, “we ended up choosing this song because it spoke directly to Hawaiʻi and we felt there were parallels in between what had been going on historically and what we’re facing now.”
Violinist Mackenzie Kwong and cellist Sabrina Hardisty are two of the approximately 50 performing musicians. Kwong, a sophomore music education major, thought there was no one better to sing the piece than Hānaialiʻi and described the adjustment to online rehearsals.
“After our first virtual rehearsal, it was a very strange feeling,” Kwong said. “Normally I am helping out by cleaning up the rehearsal room or having a small conversation with my friends and colleagues, but that night, when rehearsal ended all I had to do was shut down my laptop. It was a weird feeling.”
Kwong added, “Even though we are unable to have live, in-person concerts this semester, I am glad we are able to make recordings like this so that everyone can watch from the comfort and safety of their homes.”
Hardisty, a junior molecular biosciences and biotechnology major, credited Stepec with finding a solution to allow the symphony orchestra members to perform virtually.
“I remember talking to him right when COVID cases in Hawaiʻi began to spike, and he told me that although he was disappointed that we wouldn’t be able to play in-person this semester, he was still finding online solutions for us to play together. What he has done for our program this year is admirable and tenacious,” Hardisty said. “We have been rehearsing on an outside app called Upbeat, which allows us to record our parts while listening to a metronome, and when we finish, the software compiles them together.”
The video was produced by Duane Padilla, a professional violinist and educator from Hawaiʻi.
—By Marc Arakaki
UH Mānoa’s Symphony Orchestra was well-received at the end of the fall semester as Prof. Joseph Stepec made his conducting debut. The evening opened with the Concert Band led by Dr. Gabriel Arnold and was followed by the Symphony, led by Prof. Stepec. During the orchestra’s performance, players accompanied faculty soloist Dr. Maya Hoover in an opera-themed program of works by Verdi, Bizet, Gounod, and Borodin.
Opera is a jealous lover, and one not unlike the protagonist in Sapho—the final aria of which followed selections from Carmen during the concert. UH Mānoa adds another chapter to Hawai‘i’s love affair with opera. It is not faculty alone that enjoy the operatic limelight. Students explore artistry in opera curriculum at UH Mānoa through master classes, directed learning, and community outreach.
Whether a performer or scholar, there is something at UH Mānoa for opera lovers. The archives at UH Mānoa, for example, hold a number of rarities pertaining to opera culture in Hawai‘i. The opera Liliu recounts the life of Queen Lili‘uokalani during the annexation of Hawai‘i. Composer Alexander Borisoff previewed his opera at a festival with the same namesake nearly forty years ago this fall. Also in the archives, Mohailani: A Hawaiian Historical Comic Opera in Three Acts stands as the only operetta written by Queen Lili‘uokalani, who is said to have composed music to pass the time while waiting for congress to act.
Post by John Paul Brabant
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa graduate Chad Uyehara returns to the Music Department as conductor of the UH Symphony Orchestra for the 2014–2015 year.
Mr. Uyehara joins the faculty after several years conducting the orchestras for St. Andrew’s Priory and as conductor with the Hawai‘i Youth Symphony Association here in O‘ahu. Uyehara taught in the Clark County School District in Nevada, the Las Vegas Youth Philharmonic, and the Hawai‘i Department of Education at Kalani High School, Kaimuki Middle School, and Moanalua Elementary.
Uyehara maintains a violin and viola studio of about 40 students who have been concertmasters and section leaders in their school orchestras and the Hawai‘i Youth Symphony. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from the University pf Hawai‘i at Mānoa with bachelor’s degrees in violin performance and French, Uyehara moved to Illinois, where he received a master’s of music in music education and viola performance from Northwestern University.
Mr. Uyehara has performed professionally on violin and viola with the Las Vegas Philharmonic, Desert Springs Chamber Orchestra, and the Honolulu Symphony, and he continues to perform solo and chamber music recitals at various venues throughout the year.
The UH Symphony Orchestra will give its first performance under Maestro Uyehara’s baton on Sunday, November 16, 4pm, at Roosevelt High School Auditorium, performing music by Copland, Beethoven, and Marquez.