Winning auction bidders will take the podium with Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra

Fans of the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra are familiar with unfamiliar faces at the conductor’s podium. With no appointed conductor here since Andreas Delfs during the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra days, it’s been a parade of guest conductors.

But over the next month, there will be a different breed of conductor heading the orchestra for a song or two: the symphony supporter. Winning bidders will take the podium as the symphony auctions off opportunities to conduct the orchestra at five concerts.

Three of the concerts will be part of the orchestra’s “‘Ohana Concert” series, giving bidders the chance to select from the orchestra’s repertoire of light classical, pops and movie music. Two other conductor wannabes will rock out with Windborne, a tribute band that plays the music of classic rock bands to orchestral accompaniment.

The symphony has previously offered such opportunities to major supporters through its fundraising banquet, said Dave Moss, executive director of the symphony. This year, with plans in flux due to the pandemic, he decided to offer the same to the public at large. Still, your love for the orchestra will have to run deep — as in deep pockets. The starting bid is $3,000.

Two people who have stepped up to the podium said the experience was well worth it.

Dr. Tyrie Jenkins, an opthamologist who conducted the symphony during a concert of Led Zeppelin music last summer, called it “one of the funnest things I’ve ever done.”

She had won the opportunity years ago with the old Honolulu Symphony Orchestra but missed out when it went bankrupt. That information filtered back to the current symphony last summer. “They called me two weeks later and said, ‘You’re on next week,’ ” she said.

Although she had dreams of conducting Brahms, she wound up conducting Zeppelin’s “Dancing Days.” With a background in music — in college, Jenkins had played oboe in the orchestra, sung in a chorus and taken a basic conducting course — it proved to be no problem.

“I have enough experience in what 4/4 time is and how to conduct (it),” she said. “On the other hand, I had a good time, so I did a little bit of dancing and twirling. It was really fun.”

She said the orchestra was attentive. “I’m sure if I went too slow, they’d keep the beat up,” she said, “but at the very end, I had to shut them down, and they basically did exactly what I said with my hand. It was the illusion of control but it was a lot of fun.”

Attorney Ken Robbins has conducted the orchestra three times, once conducting Bizet’s “March of the Toreadors” in a full toreador outfit and another time conducting his father’s favorite piece. Last summer he did Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” which he called “the most fun of all.”

“Doing it outside at the Shell, with a packed house, everybody was stomping and clapping their hands, and dancing, it was a real thrill,” said Robbins, who played trombone and had a dance band when he was in school.

Robbins said the experience conducting from the podium is unlike anything one would hear from the seats. “Most people who go to a symphony concert hear the orchestra as a whole. Occasionally you can pick out someone doing a solo part,” he said. “But when you’re on the podium, you’re surrounded. You’ve got musicians to your right, your left. You’ve got musicians in front of you. You can hear all the musicians all around you, all the sections, playing individually. It’s very, very different. You’re immersed in the music.”

He said the first rehearsal provides the most exhilarating moment. “You sort of feel like you’re going to be blown off the podium,” he said. “The sound is loud. It sort of assaults you, in a very nice way. It’s not unpleasant, but wow, it’s a sound that you’ve never heard before and you’ll probably never hear again.”

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CONDUCTOR FOR A DAY

With the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra, at the Waikiki Shell

‘Ohana Concerts

>> May 22, June 1, June 8: Winners can choose a work from the orchestra’s repertoire of light classical, pops and movie music

Starlight Series rock concerts

>> May 27: The music of Def Leppard, with tribute band Windborne

>> May 28: The music of The Rolling Stones, with Windborne

Auctions for the May 22, May 27 and May 28 concerts close starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday. The auction for the June 1 concert closes at 11 a.m. May 25. The auction for the June 8 concert closes at 11 a.m. June 1. Visit myhso.org for information and to bid. Starting bid is at $3,000.