The University of Hawai‘i Wind Ensemble performed at the Western/Northwestern College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Conference in Reno, Nevada, March 2016. The UH Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey Boeckman, was one of only nine groups selected by audition to perform. The student ensemble also conducted high school outreach clinics and concerts in the San Francisco Bay Area, where UH Mānoa students demonstrated exceptional leadership by offering workshops and masterclasses to young musicians.
At the CBDNA Conference, UH Mānoa students interacted with, listened to, and performed for college students and collegiate music groups from across the Western United States. Their impressive tour program explored wind music from several countries that have influenced culture in Hawaiʻi: China, Japan, the US, Bali, and Thailand. Peter Arnade, Dean of the College of Arts & Humanities, remarks, “the CBDNA conference invitation is a clear indication of our Music Department’s excellence. This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase our student performers’ talents.”
This tour highlights one example of the UH Wind Ensemble’s ambitious agenda of collaborations with major performers and composers, chamber winds projects, and performance tours to the neighbor islands, and the Pacific Rim. In the past the UH Wind Ensemble has performed with such distinguished guest artists as Rafael Mendez and Doc Severinsen of The Tonight Show. The UH Wind Ensemble is fortunate to receive generous assistance from many alumni, family, friends, and supporters who made this tour possible. We are grateful for their help.