On Wednesday, November 25th, 2015, at 7:30 p.m. in the McKay Auditorium, the BYU-H Music Department presents An Evening of Concertos, featuring the BYUH Concert Choir, members of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra [HSO], musicians from the BYUH Chamber Orchestra, and the 2015 Concerto Competition winners: Ayaka Kinjo (piano), Sun Mi Jin (violin), Cameron Abaroa (baritone), Sydney Nemrow (soprano), Kaylee Buss (soprano), Koko Ihira (saxophone), David M. Kinikini (piano), and Joshua Wallace (percussion).
A much-anticipated event, this program brings together aspiring young artists and seasoned professionals to perform dazzling virtuoso works from the classical, contemporary, and sacred-choral traditions. The orchestra includes forty HSO professionals, six student-instrumentalists from BYUH, and faculty members Dr. David Kammerer (trumpet), Dr. Darren Duerden (percussion), and Special Instructor Jennifer Duerden (piano). Professor Michael Belnap leads the sixty-voice BYUH Concert Choir in John Rutter's Gloria and Maestro Ernest Taniguchi guides the student-soloists in their performances of Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Sondheim, Menotti, Arditi, Ibert, Rachmaninov, and Schwantner.
The association between the BYU-H Music Department and HSO began several decades ago when Dr. James A. Smith, then director of the choral/vocal program, hired musicians to perform oratorios with the Concert Choir. The concerto competition was added in 1998, giving pianists, instrumentalists, and singers the opportunity to solo with an orchestra of professionals. This year's concert is the seventh in the series, each of which has been organized by Dr. Scott McCarrey. The 2015 competition selection committee included Dr. Jon Magnussen, composer, University of Hawai‘i (West Oahu), Darren Duerden, and Michael Belnap from the BYUH Music Department.
From New York's Carnegie Hall to venues across northern China, Mongolia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand, the BYUH Concert Choir has delighted audiences with its repertoire of spirituals, musical theater pieces, lively folk-arrangements, and sacred music.
Director Michael Belnap earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Brigham Young University-Provo and later studied at the European Opera Center in Belgium. Before coming to BYUH, he was a tenured professor at Indiana University where he taught voice, Italian diction, and guided the opera workshop program for thirteen years, having been hired to the fulltime faculty as a doctoral student. In 1995 he was a finalist in the International Pavarotti Competition and was invited to Italy for private study with Mr. Pavarotti. An accomplished tenor, Michael Belnap has performed throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, with over forty leading roles in opera. His teachers include Giorgio Tozzi and Costanza Cuccaro (Indiana University), Ray Arbizu (Arizona), Peter Lockwood (Belgium), Noelle Barker and Loh-Siew Tuan (London), Elio Bataglia (Italy), Joan Dornemann (Metropolitan Opera), and Neal Goren (New York).
Maestro Ernest Taniguchi is currently Music Director of the Chamber Orchestra and the North Shore Symphonic Wind Orchestra at BYUH. Previously Mr. Taniguchi has served as Music Director and Guest Conductor of the Honolulu Wind Ensemble and has conducted award winning musical shows for Army Community Theatre and Manoa Valley Theatre. Presently he is one of the Directors of the newly formed Hawaii Concert Band. Mr. Taniguchi has studied with Maestro Takashi Asahina (1908–2001), Music Director of the Osaka Philharmonic, and is mentored by Maestro Antoni Wit (b. 1944), former Artistic Director of the Warsaw Philharmonic and current Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra. Mr. Taniguchi has unselfishly shared his unique artistic training with both students and professional groups alike. He has served as Director of the Kahuku High School "Pride of the North Shore" Band and Assistant Director of the Hawaii All-State Marching Band at the 2003 Tournament of Roses Parade. Recently, Mr. Taniguchi conducted workshops to members of the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Jamaica in Kingston and has been invited as a guest conductor later this season.
The Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra, formerly known as the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, was founded in 1900. [It] is the second oldest orchestra in the USA west of the Rocky Mountains. Originally housed in a clubhouse on the slopes of Punchbowl, the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra now plays from the Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall in downtown Honolulu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii_Symphony, accessed October 31, 2015).
Ayaka Kinjo is a sophomore majoring in piano performance. Originally from Nagoya, Japan, she began piano and organ lessons at the age of three as a student of Yuko Nakaoka. A frequent prizewinner in piano competitions, Ayaka received the highest award of the 2014 Morning Music Club scholarship auditions in Honolulu. Presently Ayaka studies piano at BYUH with Scott McCarrey.
Sun Mi Jin is from South Korea. In her middle and high-school years she graduated from the prestigious Sunhwa Arts program where she won several music competitions and performed in concerts. She is the concertmaster of the BYUH Chamber Orchestra and a pupil of Dr. Helen Liu. Sun Mi recently completed fulltime service as a missionary in the California, Riverside Mission.
Cameron Abaroa, baritone, began performing at the age of three. Raised in an artistic environment, he became a member of the Phoenix Boys Choir at the age of twelve and joined them in tours of Canada, Italy, France, and Spain. Cameron has had the honor of performing at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, and at the Valle de los Caídos in Madrid. A graduate from BYUH in 2015, Cameron emphasized Communications and Musical Theatre, as a private student of Michael Belnap.
Sydney Nemrow, mezzo-soprano, has a passion for opera and musical theater. She played "Mrs. Banks" in BYUH's production of Mary Poppins and was cast in Little Women as "Beth March" in 2013. In the classical realm, she sang in the 2014 Sailors, Soldiers, Airman, and Families Association Concert at Caird Hall in Dundee, Scotland as a featured soloist. She is a senior majoring in vocal studies and a student of Michael Belnap.
Kaylee Buss, soprano, was born and raised in Colorado and is a junior majoring in vocal performance, with a minor in Chinese. She was cast as "Mary" in the BYUH production of Mary Poppins, as "Jo" in Little Women, and as "Liesel" in The Sound of Music. Other roles performed include "Millie" in Thoroughly Modern Millie, Bonnie in Anything Goes, and "Jojo" in Seussical. With her love of music, languages, and travel, Kaylee aspires to be a teacher of the arts to children around the world. Her teacher is Michael Belnap.
Koko Ohira is from Japan and began playing saxophone as an elementary school student. In junior high and high school she belonged to the brass-band club and was selected to play alto-saxophone solos as a high-school student. She studies at BYUH with Larry Cook.
David Manamoui Kinikini began playing the piano at the age of nine and is majoring in piano performance. He studies with Scott McCarrey. Prior to BYUH, Mana's teachers included Dr. Lily Diel, Dr. Ralph Van Der Beek, and Professor Gary Amano.
Joshua Wallace was born in sunny southern California. He started taking lessons in Scottish rudimentary drumming from a fellow church member. This sparked Josh's interest in percussion and he later joined a local middle-school band under the direction of David Evans. Joshua has attended the Idyllwild Arts summer program for five consecutive summers where he worked with several professional musicians including Bill Schlitt (University of Redlands, Azusa Pacific University), Haoko Takada (Japan Symphony), and conductor, Larry Livingston (University of Southern California). Joshua's percussion teacher at BYUH is Darren Duerden.
Location: McKay Auditorium
Admission: free, tickets may be picked at the Aloha Center Front Desk, and are available from Wednesday, November 18, until 5:00 p.m. on the day of the concert
Date: Wednesday, November 25th, 2015
Time: 7:30 p.m.
*Reserved seating will be in effect until 7:20 p.m. on the day of the concert at which time unused seats will opened to those without tickets on a first-come, first-serve basis.
*Children under the age of eight will not be admitted. Recording and photography are prohibited.