Face it, what’s happening in our world is pretty depressing and grim in case you watch the daily news. Therefore it was a welcome respite to go to the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra’s concert on Sunday afternoon — a new season, a new conductor and new concert outfits!

Australian-Chinese conductor Dane Lam is the new Music Director of the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra. He is also the Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of China’s Xi’an Symphony Orchestra.

Born in Brisbane, Australia to an Australian mother and a Singaporean-Chinese father, Dane Lam played piano, clarinet, and saxophone as a child, and studied conducting under Gwyn Roberts at the University of Queensland. Following an assistantship and three years of study with Gianluigi Gelmetti, then Chief Conductor of the Sydney Symphony and Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Dane attained his Masters from The Juilliard School on a full scholarship under James DePreist before undertaking a Junior Fellowship in Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music under Sir Mark Elder, Clark Rundell and Mark Heron. A protégé of the late Kurt Masur, Dane held the post as his Assistant.

I found his conducting extremely exciting and dynamic and he brought out the absolute best in the Hawaii Symphony musicians, and I could tell the respect was mutual. However, something I noticed right away is that he holds the baton in his left hand! I have to admit he is the first conductor I’ve ever seen to beat time with his left hand and use his right hand for expression, where most conductors do the opposite.

Here’s what I found on Quora:

Are there any left-handed conductors, and if so, does left-handedness present any inherent problems for executing a score or compromising an orchestra member’s ability to follow direction?

Guess who answered the question?! ChatGPT!

Maestro Lam spoke briefly about listening to a podcast on his way to the concert hall—and brought up the idea that listening to a live concert with living, breathing people next to you is an absolutely awesome experience, especially when the concert hall is nearly full, as it was in the Hawaii Theatre Sunday afternoon. This was another miracle, because last year, the house had lots of empty seats. Blaisdell Concert Hall, which is undergoing restoration, has much better acoustics, but I have to admit I like the idea of walking to the Hawaii Theatre, which is only two blocks from my condo, and I don’t have to worry about parking my car.

The concert began with Michael Thomas Foumai’s harmonically interesting and colorful orchestration of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Hawai’i Pono’i” (Hawai’i ‘s state anthem). Foumai is the Symphony’s composer in residence and I always look forward to hearing his innovative compositions.

But wait! There’s more! I absolutely loved the opening piece on the program, Foumai’s three movement work, “Children of Gods” on three mythological Hawaiian gods, Hina, Maui and Pele. He vividly depicted the Hawaiian Islands pulled from the sea floor, tropical landscapes and fiery volcanoes through colorful orchestrations and haunting melodies.

We also heard violinist Jennifer Koh play Missy Mazzoli’s “Violin Concerto.” Koh’s playing was virtuosic and stunning but I was quite taken with her turquoise hair and iridescent concert dress!

The other piece on the program was Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherezade,” which was brilliantly executed by the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. We could tell the orchestra really responded to Dane Lam’s conducting.

While walking back to the condo, I met another couple from my building who had been to the concert. I asked them how they liked the concert, and they said it was their first Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra concert and they absolutely loved it! We are so fortunate to have this orchestra in our community.