Hawaii Symphony Orchestra announces reimagined season finale

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The Hawaii Symphony Orchestra announced a major program change for its season finale concert after one of the performers had to drop out.

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Renowned opera soprano Renee Fleming is unable to travel to Hawaii or perform with the orchestra due to illness.

Fleming’s team said in a statement, “She looks forward to rescheduling this special concert at a later date.”

In response, Music & Artistic Director Dane Lam worked with the orchestra’s artistic team to put together a new season finale program.

“The entire artistic team sprang into action to craft a program befitting this brilliant orchestra in this most special of communities,” Lam said.

The new show features internationally acclaimed violinist Simone Porter, as well as a world premiere of HSO Composer-in-Residence Michael-Thomas Foumai and Gustav Holst’s orchestral masterpiece, “The Planets.”

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“Simone was last with us very early in my tenure as Music Director, when she gave an unforgettable rendition of the Sibelius Violin Concerto,” Lam said. “On Sunday, she’ll play an evergreen of the violin repertoire — the ‘Bruch Concerto’ — in what will surely be another incandescent performance.”

Foumai’s original piece that will premiere Sunday, “Aina Hanau,” came from a collaboration with Hawaii’s former Poet Laureate Brandy Nalani McDougall, in an homage to Mauna Kea.

The concert concludes with Holst’s “The Planets,” a highly celebrated orchestral work chosen to showcase for the artistry and versatility of the orchestra.

The show is set for Sunday, June 7, at 4 p.m., with a pre-concert conversation at 3 p.m., at the Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall.

Click here to purchase tickets online. Tickets purchased from the Hawaii Theatre Box Office will also be accepted.

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