Thursday morning BYU-Hawaii's Brass Band and Jazz Ensemble departed for neighboring Maui for a weekend tour of the island. The two groups, directed by David Kammerer and Darren Duerden respectively, will tour Kahului, Hana, and Lahaina performing at churches, community centers and open air venues. While in Maui, the group of 34 will be hosted by church members and university ohana as they share their many talents through concerts and firesides.
The Jazz Ensemble and Brass Band are headlining at the Lahaina Ocean ArtsFestival on Saturday, March 11th. Jennifer Dory, events coordinator for the arts festival,was pleased to hear that the groups could be on the island for the festival. BYU-Hawaii has already made a name for itself in Lahaina entertaining crowds in 2003 with the Jazz Ensemble and Shaka Steel Drum Band. This year is sure to captivate returning crowds with the addition of the Brass Band to the ticket.
BYU-Hawaii's Brass Band is no stranger to high profile performances. As one of the first performing groups organized at the university (the Church CollegeofHawaii), the band has been pleasing audiences on inter-island tours since the70's. Since the group's organization, the band has performed regularly in parades,the Polynesian Cultural Center, and other special events, including a reception for former President George Bush. The group includes students from Thailand,Kauai, Oahu, Tonga, U.S. mainland, and the Czech Republic directed by DavidKammerer who received his master's in music in composition from Ithica college.
His counterpart, Dr. Darren Duerden is in his third year directing the JazzEnsemble. His group performs jazz standards, salsa classics, and contemporary arrangements of popular music, animated films, and Broadway. Dr. Duerden earned his Doctorate and Master's degrees at Florida State University in percussion performance and has been instrumental in implementing what he sees as "a melding of world music" at BYU-Hawaii.
As instrumental music coordinator at BYU-Hawaii, Duerden directs the JazzEnsemble, the steel drum band, Shaka Steel, and oversees a Polynesian drumming ensemble.It is in this capacity that he helped organize the "Hawaii Day of Percussion," atBYU-Hawaii Saturday, March 4th. The event was sponsored by the Percussive ArtsSociety and was the first event of its kind on our campus and in the state. The event included what Duerden lauded as "the steel pan artistry of Californiaprofessional Tom Miller, to the subtle symphonic percussion techniques of StuartChafetz and Eric Shin of the Honolulu Symphony, to the thunderous rhythms of the Tahitian to ere by Lloyd Chandler from the Polynesian Cultural Center."
Following the success of last week's event Dr. Durden and his students have translated that excitement and energy to a tour to Maui that promises to be a whirlwind four days of music, friends, travel and testimony. Our university friends, alumni and ohana in Maui are invited to join the BYU-Hawaii Jazz Ensemble and BrassBand at their performances this weekend:
Thursday, March 9
Kahului
• 12:00pm Cameron Center performance (Free; 30-60 minutes)
Hana
• 7:00pm Hana Branch performance
Friday, March 10
Kahului
• 7:00pm Kahului Stake Center performance
Saturday, March 11
Lahaina
• 1:00pm Lahaina Ocean Arts Festival performance (Banyan Tree Park)
• 7:00pm Lahaina Ward performance