I was talking with a friend who wasn’t able to go to the Early Music Hawaii concert last weekend, but she said that the next day at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, *everybody* was talking about the concert and its success. “I went into the Board Room, and they were talking about last night’s concert. I went into the kitchen, and they were talking about the concert. I even overheard people in the courtyard talking — and they were excitedly talking about the Early Music Hawaii concert!”

Ian Capps, president of Early Music Hawaii, sent out this note to all the performers yesterday:

Dear All,

You were all wonderful! Early Music Hawaii and the many members of the audience with whom I have spoken are full of admiration for giving us one of our most exciting evenings ever. I am most grateful for the hard work and inspiration, especially given such a limited time for rehearsal. Spanish is not one of the languages most frequently heard in renaissance music and all the solos and the few ensembles in Spanish were clear and sung with great feeling. The “San Sabeya” was a triumph in every sense, as you could tell from the audience response. For me, it was right up there with my favorite recording by none other than Jordi Savall and Hesperion. The instrumental accompaniments and solos were outstanding – all praise to Anna and Richard for starring in almost every piece. The trombones and organ added to that resonance unique to the Spanish church repertory, and Juan added the icing on the cake. 

Above all, we have Scott Fikse to thank for his talent, newly acquired skills, hard work, inspiration and leadership which made this possible.

I have been collecting some data to share with you. There was a record number of 93 advance sales, emphasizing the trust our regular audience has in us. There were 25 more tickets sold at the door. The number of seats available in that LCH set-up is around 130, plus those reserved for the clergy (in our case performers). All of those were filled and we had to add some extras. Including the “comps”, there were some140 people in the audience – a number which we have not seen since well before the pandemic.

Live attendance at concerts is coming back. A grand Mahalo to all of you for giving us the best possible start to a new season. .

Ian

Here are some more pictures from the concert, taken by Linda Muller, who wrote: On Saturday Early Music Hawaii presented “The Golden Age of Spanish Culture” with Scott Fikse as guest conductor. Besides the amazing voices instruments included percussion, vihuela, guitar, viola, trombone and organ. A very educational program that was uplifting. Bravo!

In case you want to see the program, you can see the PDF here.