Hawaii Symphony Orchestra

I saw LOST in concert with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. Overall...it was a C- for me. The advertised concert wasn't specific enough so I didn't get what I paid to see. What I expected: Orchestra plays the sound track of the show WITH the showing of the series. What I got: Orchestra plays the soundtrack with some uninteresting visuals. Also some actors reading a script. It was hard to understand what was going on unless you were already a fan of the show. As a musician myself, I can say the soundtrack is very same-y, it was like listening to the same song on repeat for 2 hours. Summarized experience:This experience was not for me, but other reviews say their performance is good. I would not recommend LOST in concert to anyone.

Love HSO. Just saw the Dawn of Dane with Jennifer Koh. Awesome. Just one comment. The newly designed outfits for the musicians are hugely ugly. They look like a cross between the smock the barber wraps you in before a haircut, and a hospital gown. Lose them. Immediately.

The HSO is absolutely fantastic. Last night they took The Muppet Christmas Carol to a whole new level and if you can make a kids movie a symphonic masterpiece then there's some real talent there. Highly recommend going to see them.

We went to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in concert. It was a "magical" experience. Lol... In all honesty it was lovely to hear the live soundtrack and watch my favorite Harry Potter movie. The energy from the audience was amazing we cheered on Harry and Cedric and booed old Voldemort. I love watching and hearing the symphony bring the Harry Potter music to life. Such wonderfully skilled musicians. The concert hall is nice and comfortable. I enjoyed the colored popcorn that they sold. We got the yellow and black for the best house Hufflepuff. My only criticism is that the line for the ladies restroom gets long especially during intermission. The concert hall staff are experts at managing this and you will get back to your seats in time. Overall a great experience that I highly recommend for Harry Potter and music fans. We will be going back for book five.

The Hawaii Symphony Orchestra is one of the best symphonies around! The talent they have nurtured over the years is apparent in their seamless synchronization and stellar solos. We attended Symphony POPs and it was an absolute joy! Hearing them in the acoustic arena of the Hawaii Theatre was a transcending experience. I've never heard their performance so clearly and so completely before!

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. An awesome 3 hours of a new age "classic" with the talented Hawaii Symphony! This was the 2nd Harry Potter concert. We anticipate one yearly for at least the next 6 years. This is a must see experience. Get your tickets early because it's a sell out Pops Series performance. Way to go Hawaii Symphony and thank you again, j.K. Rowling.2018 NovemberHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra and choir! We r so proud of our friend Catherine Yamashiro who performed with the choir for both performan#HarryPotterInConcertJanuary 2018:Beatles Magical Mystery TourAwesome show. Did u know that the Beatles never had an opportunity to play with a live symphony like this these classical mystery tour.com Beatles?

I've been a semi regular symphony goer for the past 15 years. In college, my boyfriend found out that the student tickets for the symphony were the same price or less than the cost of movie tickets. So we would dress up and go listen to the soothing, incredible sounds of a live orchestra. Since then, I have heard many orchestras play around the world. I love coming to see Hawaii Symphony Orchestra play! They always knock it out of the park! I'm a POPS kind of girl, but I will go listen to anything. I've heard musical scores of movies filmed in Hawaii, Harry Potter, Latin jams, Star Wars, the music of Queen, and most recently the music of Billy Joel. Every event has been a class act. Some required dancing in the aisles. Others were accompanied by a film ( Harry Potter and Star Wars) every one is excellent. The concert hall is dated, but comfortable and has solid acoustics. Everyone working or volunteering there is friendly. Pro tip... everyone always wants to go to the bathroom closest to the front door. If you wait 5 minutes into the intermission, there's a bathroom to the left when facing the stage. That one almost never has a line after the first few minutes.

I've been to a handful of events performed by the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra held at the Blaisdell Concert Hall. The events are always organized and well programmed. My favorite event would have to be Disney In Concert which I attended in 2016 and then again in 2019. The orchestra is full of talented musicians. They truly bring the music & magic of Disney to our little island in the middle of the ocean. I look forward to attending future events and supporting HSO!

Before the pandemic (ugh, why does it seem like every review has to start with that?), my experience with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra was, not great. I went to one event, courtesy of Yelp (thanks!), and frankly I didn't enjoy it. The orchestra was so mic'd up that I felt like I couldn't hear the live music, I was just listening to the radio. It also felt uninspired and contrived. That event was a live concert of popular video game music. That was then. At when they were based at the ageing Blaisdell Center.Enter the Hawaii Theatre Center, and the new executive director of HSO, Dave Moss. This team -- Hawaii's storied old theatre, and a the vision of Dave -- has from my perspective transformed this organization for the good. No one would envy the position they're in. A new partnership under new leadership, and then a global health crisis, in an industry that relies on spectators. Woah.But these guys are overcoming adversity and nailing it. Instead of hanging around whining about closures, they've been working with each other, and city and state authorities, to find a way to make it work, to keep their musicians active, to keep their audience involved, and keep the mission going. Each week, Dave and HSO's concertmaster, Iggy Jang, host an hour-long chat with special guests to discuss anything. Through this weekly talk story, we've gotten to know these two, and learn a lot about the HSO, it's members, and about orchestras in general. And wine! Each week is paired with a wine from Kakaako Wine! Wine!! Even better, they're performing! So far this fall date, the HSO and HTC have hosted three live-streamed concerts, called the Sounds of Resilience series. With a focus on chamber music, the concerts each have a theme to capture the prevailing mood, including chaos, Halloween, and upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas shows. They're excellent productions and you can see how happy these musicians are to be able to perform with each other again. The recent changes have made HSO an organization with skill, talent, and most importantly -- vision. I can't wait to see what's to come. Thank you!

The performers are outstanding, as is the conductor (pleased he gave me a smile before the show started). The first few notes played by the strings during "Peter and the Wolf" brought tears to my eyes, they were so pure and perfectly played.We heard them at the Manoa Valley Theatre, which has great acoustics. But this symphony deserves a clean and polished venue. First thing we noticed after sitting down was the dust coating everything up high. It wouldn't take much except for a feather duster on a pole to get all the high spots. C'mon, show the performers (and audience) they're worth something by being proud of your place! I feel honored we got to get close and personal with the symphony on July 3. They deserved a standing ovation.