For all you band geeks out there, former and present, it’s time to pucker up your lip and polish up the brass.
In cooperation with Pearl City High School, the University of Hawaii West-Oahu is striking up a concert band this spring, and students and community members are invited to join in.
"There are quite a few students, not only from Pearl City High School, but other schools in the region, who come through the band program in high school, but if they come to UH-West Oahu they don’t have a band option," said Jon Magnussen, a composer and a professor of music at the Kapolei campus. "So this is part of a large push at UH-West Oahu to increase the student life option."
While officially a UH-West Oahu program, the band will meet at the Pearl City High School band room starting Jan. 15 and be led by Chadwick Kamei, director of the high school’s band programs for eight years. UH-West Oahu lacks the equipment and facilities needed for a band program.
"I know there are a lot of people who have instruments, or students who want to continue on in their instrumental studies, but it’s so difficult to get out to the east side of the island to play with an ensemble," said Kamei, who has taken Pearl City High bands to perform in Beijing, Japan, London, Paris and mainland cities.
He said he expects to play standard band repertoire — "marches, contemporary songs, movie music" — and that he expects a high caliber of play.
"I think it will be the next step to push the students musically beyond what we’ve done in high school," he said. "But my main goal is to keep the community and students interested in it, so we’re not going to be pushing the envelope of modern John Cage music or anything like that."
Kamei and some UH-West Oahu students started up a small band last year, meeting informally as a club, but it had to go on hiatus because of logistics and scheduling problems.
The new band will be "official," he said, offering college credit to UH-West Oahu students and to high school students who qualify for the program through Running Start, a state Department of Education program. The band will be open to community members as well.
Magnussen expects a good response from students and the community, saying it could ultimately number as many as 60 or 70 musicians.
Through his music appreciation courses at UH-West Oahu, he hears from students who are interested in having in a band. "And I know there are quite a number of alumni out in the Central Oahu, West Oahu region who are interested."
The band will meet from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays. Instruments will be available for rent. Anyone interested in auditioning should contact Kamei at 454-5655.
