Nostalgia is a moving target. What brings back warm memories of youthful exuberance is going to be different for people in their 80s in comparison with people in their 50s.

Stuart Chafetz, former principal timpanist and now occasional conductor for the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra, pictured, remembers the days when a pops concert meant “bring back those big bands, because that was the demographic of what was happening,” but for him the 1980s provide the most fulfilling musical memories.

“This decade means so much to me because I was in school, college, during this decade, so I got to know it personally,” said Chafetz, 52.

For tonight’s concert, Chafetz personally selected a program of ’80s tunes, and he’ll be taking up the baton to lead the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra.

The orchestra will be joined by top-flight vocalists Nicole Parker, well known to Hawaii stage fans for her appearance in “Wicked,” and Aaron Finley, an up-and-coming Broadway performer.

Audience members are invited to join in the fun by dressing up in their favorite ’80s fashion for a costume contest. Get those leg warmers, parachute pants and shoulder pads out of the closet. Judges are looking for the funniest and most original costumes, as well as the best couple, best keiki and best in show.

In putting the program together, Chafetz found plenty of good material.

“The ’80s were a prolific decade,” he said. “It took me a long time to decide what tunes to choose and what will sound best being played by a whole orchestra. … There could have been a part two and a part three to this concert. You could go in so many directions.”

Choosing among musicians such as Elton John, Lionel Richie, Cyndi Lauper and Michael Jackson, Chafetz relied on his own experience in pop music — the conductor has worked with artists such as Roberta Flack, George Benson, John Denver, Marvin Hamlisch, Jim Nabors and Randy Newman — as well as his considerable classical background to pick the right songs.

“When you listen to the solo section or the chorus parts of the song and you think, ‘I can hear that in the French horns,’ or ‘That electric guitar lick could sound really good in the violins,’” he said, “you sort of get a feel for what will sound good and what wouldn’t.”

Only one of his selections, John Williams’ theme from “E.T.,” already was arranged for orchestra, so Chafetz commissioned top arrangers to rework the other pieces.

Most songs will be performed in fairly straightforward fashion, with some extra material to transition from one work to another, but there has been no attempt to make the tunes more “classical.” Still, some songs might take on a slightly different color from what you might remember, because they’re in a different key.

Most rock tunes are written in the key of E, since that is the dominant key on guitar, but to accommodate the singers’ range, they had to be rewritten.

Changing the key, Chafetz said, “changes everything,” noting, by way of example, “The sunny sound of E major is so much different than E-flat. E-flat is so much darker.”

Ultimately, however, that won’t make the songs any less enjoyable.

“A good song is a good song, and very often you can orchestrate it such that it would highlight the song in different light,” he said. “This is our take.”

Chafetz has already given the program in Phoenix and North Carolina, and he said he’s been pleasantly surprised at how moving the tunes are in concert. He hasn’t changed anything based on audience reaction or performances — a rarity for a new production, pop or classical.

“Cyndi Lauper’s ‘True Colors,’ when I heard it for the first time, I actually cried — it was so beautiful,” he said.

“When I heard three from Elton John — ‘Sad Song,’ ‘I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues’ and ‘I’m Still Standing’ — I thought, ‘This is great!’”

The program will include a “big ’80s overture,” Chafetz promises, featuring works by Christopher Cross, Phil Collins, Lauper, Pat Benatar, Journey and Bruce Springsteen.

Supertrain, Elton John, movie hits, Don Henley, Toto, Sting, Whitney Houston and an Artist Known by a Couple of Names — Chafetz was coy about this revered artist’s identity — also are on the program.

So far, the performances have been well received and have earned wide appeal, Chafetz said.

“People will either write in or see me after the concert, and they’ll say, ‘You know what? I had a lot of fun. I brought my kids. I brought my parents.’ Three generations — to me that’s success, because everyone can enjoy it.”