LIHU‘E — Spring is a season for butterflies and flowers — and a lot of music to go along.
Nearly five months after a historic 25th anniversary celebration concert, the three music ensembles at Kaua‘i Community College will perform again in a series of free concerts this weekend.
KCC is the only community college in Hawai‘i that has three full instrumental music ensembles: the Wind Symphony, the Jazz Ensemble and the Symphony Orchestra.
Wind Symphony Director Sarah Tochiki said the concerts are a “mixed bag of music” for the whole family.
“All the ensemble directors picked music of many genres to satisfy everyone’s tastes, from pop music to classical from marches to jazz,” she said. “Anyone who comes will get to hear music that is familiar and stuff they have never heard before, to stretch their musical experience.”
The Wind Symphony will feature music ranging from the film score of Star Trek to an arrangement of a piece by master choral composer Morten Lauridsen to a Cajun inspired tune, according to a press release.
The Jazz Ensemble will feature tunes by Louis Armstrong, Cole Porter and vocal charts made popular by Frank Sinatra.
The Symphony Orchestra will be featuring a medley of Broadway marches and music by Mozart and Mendelssohn. Also featured will be Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 with Tochiki, Esther Miller, Joan Yamaguchi and Dennis Haack as soloists.
“We are fortunate enough to have these ensembles to help preserve live music in a setting such as ours,” Symphony Orchestra Director Nina Saraos said.
All ensembles serve musicians of all ages, from middle school and college students to retirees and working professionals.
“Music is awesome because it can be performed anywhere in the world and connect people in ways that cannot be done otherwise,” Tochiki said. “It really is a universal language.”
All performances will be at KCC Performing Arts Center.
On Friday, the Wind Symphony and the Jazz Ensemble will perform from 7 to 9 p.m.
On Sunday, the Symphony Orchestra will close the concert series with a performance from 3 to 5 p.m.
“Those interested should come for the experience,” Tochiki said. “There will be lots of different instruments and lots of interesting things throughout the entire concert.”
The late Larry McIntosh founded the ensembles in 1987 with the help of David Iha, the former head of KCC. Barry Toy is the director for the Jazz Ensemble.
Donations will be accepted at the door to help maintain KCC music ensembles.
Contact Tochiki at (808) 387-6772 or at tochikis@hawaii.edu for more information.
• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-0452 or lazambuja@ thegardenisland.com.
