Winter Newsletter 2020-21

Making music is a right, not a privilege.

President’s Message Randy Wong Dear HYS Families & Friends, As we embark into the 56th season of HYS, I would like to take a moment to extend our humble gratitude to our ever-encouraging community for your moral and financial support. It is through your constant generosity and inspiration that we are able to continue to create accessible music education for Hawaii’s youth.

In this edition, we’ll delve into our wonderfully reimagined Na Mele Gala and the many ways that music brings people together. We’ll also look at how we’ve never stopped making music, and the exciting ways we will continue to celebrate music’s diverse creators and communities. I’m also pleased to welcome a new member to our HYS Ohana that will help us further our vision in the New Year.

With dynamic new online programming and an unwavering commitment, we head into a hopeful 2021—and share our warmest tidings to all for the holiday season.

Aloha!

Welcome Rudy!

The Hawaii Youth Symphony is proud to introduce its first-ever Director of Advancement, Rüdiger Rückmann, commonly known as “Rudy.” Rudy joined the HYS team on October 19, 2020 and will be working to further HYS’ vision—to make music a right, not a privilege, for the students of Hawaii and beyond.

"It is an honor to work with the inspiring staff and musicians of HYS," said Rudy. "I am excited to have been given the opportunity to advance more enhanced community partnerships and engagements for the HYS Ohana ."

A former Fulbright scholar, speechwriter for a Japanese Embassy, and tennis writer, Rudy has worked as a Director of Development or Advancement for more than 20 years. He most recently led Pacific Buddhist Academy’s Advancement Office where he worked since he and his family moved to Hawaii in 2014. Growing up in Appalachia, Rudy played the piano, trumpet, and bassoon, and was a member of the Chautauqua Youth Orchestra. In addition to his musical achievements, Rudy has finished 29 marathons and is a published journalist and poet. Rückmann’s musical grandfather was also a concert pianist in the Rust Belt.

In his new post, Rudy Rückmann will direct HYS’ advancement and fundraising, to include annual appeals, special events, legacy giving, and corporate sponsorships. He will seek new donors and deepen relationships with existing partners, community leaders, and families.

HYS Launches Online Learning Platform for Students Although it is taking a temporary intermission from in-person programming, HYS is finding creative ways to keep the joy of music a right for all! Providing enriching and affordable opportunities for students to continue studying and practicing music in a safe space, HYS created the online platform HYS+. Enrollment is open to all prospective students, including those without prior HYS experience and Mainland students.

Under the direction of maestro Joseph Stepec, the Symphony+ program enables students to take part in interdisciplinary music projects, study orchestral repertoire with members of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, hone musical skills, and attend performances by phenomenal artists. The new Jazz+ program, led by Dean Taba, Director HYS Jazz and Combo I, and Ryan Howe, Conductor, Combo II, explores the many forms of contemporary improvised music, as well as the practical applications of music theory and ear training.

Registration for Spring Semester programming is open now through December 18, 2020.

Learn more at: hiyouthsymphony.org/plus.

All in the Family With the power of music to connect people across the world so wonderfully on display with this year’s Na Mele, it is fitting to reflect on how music can also be a common thread at the familial level. Throughout HYS families, a shared joy of music appreciation and music-making is often celebrated for generations within the same ohana.

One such example is the Uchida clan, a family first introduced to HYS in 2003.

Both Lance and Mel Uchida generously served as HYS parent volunteers for over a decade, while all four of their children— Jaycee, Micah, Matthew and Megan—went through the HYS experience.

Micah, Jaycee, Matt, Megan

Dedicated parent volunteers are vital to the success of the Hawaii Youth Symphony. When asked what inspired them to give of their time to support the organization in this way, Mel points to the caliber and the character of the instructors.

Said Mel, “Our eldest daughter auditioned for the String Program and Ms. Joan Doike was her conductor. She was amazing as an educator and an exceptional person. We quickly realized that the HYS organization, at every level, was staffed with excellent people that would teach our children lessons far beyond music. The musical standard, commitment level and expectations were set high—and proved to be a great training ground for discipline and diligence. We were gaining so much from HYS, we wanted to contribute in whatever way we could.”

Music education provided a heartbeat and shared experience in the Uchida household that included a daily repetition of practicing, listening, and learning. The routine not only offered character-building challenges and discipline, but also a wonderful common ground for the siblings despite their diverse interests outside of music. The HYS experience was a big part of their childhood, and Mel shares that its influence still continues today into their adulthood—providing an understanding of music’s value and importance in life.

Reflecting on how music often moved their family in a shared way, Lance adds,“Countless pieces that our kids have had an opportunity to play at HYS were so wonderful, that it would take our breath away or bring to mind a vivid image, like Derrick Yamane dancing while conducting John Williams' Cowboy Overture in HYS Concert Orchestra—or Mr. Miyamura conducting YSI through Harry Potter or one of his show-stopping opening overtures. There were times we would listen to the performances with tears in our eyes, and others when we would just want to stand up and cheer.”

We Never Stopped Making Music!

Micah, Megan, Jaycee, Matt

Celebrating the resiliency of American youth orchestras across the country during the global pandemic, the New Jersey Youth Symphony—a program of the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts—joined forces with Hawaii Youth Symphony, Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras, Los Angeles Youth Orchestra, and the Youth Orchestras of San Antonio to host the U.S. Youth Orchestras eFestival: “We Never Stopped Making Music.”

Each youth orchestra featured a student representative to share how continuing to make music throughout the pandemic has had a positive impact on their lives, and introduced a virtually coordinated performance video. The online event held in September raised awareness for the importance of performing arts education, especially during social distancing, and can be viewed in its entirety via YouTube at whartonarts.tv.

Mahalo Nui Loa

Inspiring More Diversity

This month we will bid a heartfelt aloha to two amazing members—and two sisters-in-law—from our HYS Ohana. While they supported HYS in different capacities, they both are beloved by generations of students, families, and colleagues. We are forever grateful for their many years with us and their service to the music community!

Joan Doike, Conductor, Beginning String Ensemble & String Orchestra, directed orchestras in the HYS program for 14 years prior to moving for a period of time to Indiana. While there, she taught at the Indiana University Jacobs Joan, Zoë, Ren & Rich School of Music Pre-College String Academy. She presently teaches the HYS Beginning String Ensemble, and gives private lessons. Her two grown daughters are also HYS alumni.

Ann Doike has been a part of HYS for over 15 years. She started as a parent volunteer when her two children joined the Academy String Program. Her dedication to the program and Asia, Alan, Aris & Ann active involvement soon led to full-time employment as a member of our administrative team, where she has coordinated core programs, facilities, and concert production.

HYS is proud to partner with the National Orchestral Institute + Festival (NOI+F) to expand the K-12 New Music Project! This dynamic project developed by NOI+F encourages discussion around diversity and equity among both orchestral leaders and students—in particular, to inspire the inclusion and study of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) composers of classical music.

HYS will join fellow partners Prince George’s County Public Schools and the DC Youth Orchestra in this important initiative to diversify K-12 level orchestral repertoire. The initiative will become a dynamic feature of Hawaii Youth Symphony’s online learning, and is being incorporated into the new HYS+ and Academy Online programs.

Board of Directors Chair: Patti Look Vice Chair: Sharon R. Himeno Secretary: Erica Mau Treasurer: Mary Ellen Williams Directors: Alan Arizumi, Gladys Hirano, Collin Hoo, Martin Hsia, Tina Lau, Malcolm Lau, Michael Onofrietti, Geoffrey S. Sewell, M.D., Jake Shimabukuro, Jean Tsukamoto