Kamuela Philharmonic Orchestra Society to Hold Virtual Performance

The Kamuela Philharmonic Orchestra Society is set to perform a virtual concert in the coming days.

It’s been more than a year since the group performed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The health restrictions imposed in an effort to stem the spread of the virus have made it impossible for the orchestra to present large-scale performances. However, on Sunday, May 16, at 2 p.m., the orchestra will stream a new performance of a wide variety of music types for the entire state and beyond.

“We have especially missed the pleasure and honor of bringing live performances of beautiful symphonic music to you for more than a year, but we are now fortunate to be able to bring you this wonderful, streaming concert showcasing four different instrumental ensembles from our orchestra,” said Joel Gimpel, violinist and President of the Board of Directors for the orchestra.

The concert home of the Philharmonic is the Kahilu Theater in Waimea. During the pandemic, the group made improvements to their technological capabilities, acquiring 4,000 digital cameras, high-end audio recording equipment, and computer infrastructure has played a huge role in this return of the Philharmonic.

“I am so thrilled that we will now have this amazing technology to help the Philharmonic reach so much more of Hawaii Island and beyond. Being able to bring great symphonic music as digital content throughout our communities is very important to me as artistic director and as an educator,” said Artistic Director and Conductor, Brian Dollinger.

In order to make major portions of this virtual concert feasible, Dollinger wore many different hats. From his artistic decisions on the programming of the repertoire that was performed, and the rehearsing/coaching of many of these works, to creating his own arrangements of music for performance on this concert and using his computer skills with the technical side of the final video production, he was determined to making every step of this program a success.

“Being able to stream into the homes, schools, and portable devices, with amazing video clarity and audio refinement, is such a wondrous gift to come out of this pandemic. Making music with my Hawai‘i ‘ohana that includes brass instruments, woodwinds, percussion, and string musicians was very fulfilling for me. Sixteen months is a very long time to be away from something we love doing, and we definitely are looking ahead to being able to present concerts with live audiences as well,” Dollinger said.

Funding for the project came from the Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. Click here to watch the free streaming concert.

“I am very grateful to everyone who was paramount to the success of this project; the musicians; the Kahilu administration and technical crew; the Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts; and our grant writer who was able to successfully write the application for the funds from the state, Brenda McConnell,” Dollinger continued, “there is only so much one person can do, but with an organization with people all working for the same goals, anything can be achieved.”