Symphony appoints full-time music director
Jan. 18—Maestro Dane Lam is the first person to hold the position since the orchestra emerged from bankruptcy 11 years ago.
Australian Chinese maestro Dane Lam has been appointed as music director of the Hawai 'i Symphony Orchestra, the orchestra announced today.
It will be the first time since the orchestra emerged from bankruptcy 11 years ago that someone has held the position, which involves planning and conducting concerts as well as community outreach.
Lam has led several orchestras in Australia, China and Europe, but made his American debut last March with the HSO. He was subsequently asked back to open the 2022-23 season.
Symphony Executive Director Dave Moss said the orchestra has been looking for a full-time music director for about two years, with nearly every guest conductor being asked to consider the position.
Lam said he will conduct the majority of the orchestra's Masterworks concert series, which feature the traditional Western European repertoire, as well as "taking charge " of the HapaSymphony events, which feature local pop and Native Hawaiian musicians. He said he hopes to bring the symphony on tour and record it.
He will be making his home in Hawaii—a somewhat unusual arrangement considering that many conductors lead orchestras around the world and are constantly on the move among them.
"I think it's really important with the way a symphony works and the way it's embedded in the community that the music director is present in the community and not just flying in and out, " said Lam, who will be officially starting in July.
"There's a great feeling here, " he said of the music scene. "There's something brewing here that this could really be a definitive model of what an orchestra can be."
Previously, the orchestra's schedule was drawn up mostly with the help of Buffalo, N.Y.-based maestro JoAnn Falletta, who would conduct the orchestra two or three times a season, with the rest of the concerts led by guest conductors. Falletta will retain an emeritus position with the organization, Moss said.
