When the Honolulu Symphony folded two years ago, Matt Cat­in­gub decided to "close the book and pursue other things."

Catingub, the multitalented musician who founded the symphony’s lauded Pops Series in 1998, went on to establish a pops orchestra in Southern California and lead a pop series in New Mexico, adding to a long list of musical accomplishments that includes award-winning recordings and film scores.

Now he will be busy opening a new chapter for the new Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra, leading a six-concert pops series featuring local and mainland stars. Announced Monday, the series kicks off with a concert in just eight days, with another less than two weeks later.

"This is unprecedented in any orchestra I’ve been involved with, where we’re actually trying to put all these concerts on in such a short amount of time," he said. "We used to do seven pops over nine months. Now here’s six pops over three months."

Catingub is confident he has the resources to pull it off. A prolific arranger as well as conductor, he has orchestrated many songs for this season’s guest artists. He also knows that the musicians, who will get only one rehearsal per concert, will respond to the challenge.

"The musicians have always been spectacular," he said. "You get people with a musical level at that point where you can just run it down once and then do the concert."

The first concert features Raiatea, Henry Kapono and Na Leo Pilimehana, all of whom performed with the previous symphony.

Raiatea, who did a recording of romantic tunes with Cat­in­gub, said, "It’s a huge honor to be sharing the stage with the symphony.

"It’s the biggest thing for an artist to have a symphony behind them," she said. "Just having the strings behind me when I sing in the high register, it really resonates — oh my God, it’s so beautiful."

Kapono said he would like to perform his hit "Sailing," although his final playlist has not been set.

Performing with the symphony is "a real treat," he said. "You start hearing all kinds of things that you don’t normally hear. … It’s like being in a music candy store."

Later concerts will feature Mary Wilson, a founding member of the Supremes, in a program that will also feature ukulele legends Benny Chong and Byron Yasui; local crooner Jimmy Borges; and pop music legend Kenny Loggins. A July Fourth program will feature Amy Hanai­ali‘i. The lineup for one other concert has yet to be finalized.

Catingub praised the leaders of the new symphony for being so aggressive in their planning.

"I think it’s great because it shows we’re in this and not just creeping back," he said. "It’s sending a message that we’re in this for real. This is the beginning of the rebirth of the symphony."