For the past half century, the Honolulu Chamber Music Series has brought top-flight international ensembles to perform on O‘ahu. From the Paganini Quartet and the Beaux Arts Trio, to the Brentano Quartet and the Interpreti Veneziani, nearly every American and European ensemble of note has appeared on the series since its 1955 inception. Many favorite ensembles, including the Tokyo, Emerson, and Juilliard Quartets, have made multiple appearances over the years, building a lasting rapport with Honolulu audiences. Over the years, HCMS has consistently displayed an ability to discover unknown or emerging quartets who would later go on to great fame: Both the Tokyo and Takacs Quartets arrived in Honolulu long before their ascent to the apex of the chamber music world. HCMS continues to seek out some of the world’s most interesting and dynamic young ensembles.

Today, HCMS is doing more than ever before to offer adult audiences–and, through outreach programs, young people–the opportunity to hear, fall in love with, and savor the heights and depths of chamber music. The intimacy of the Mae Z. Orvis Auditorium at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, coupled with lively pre-concert artist discussions, encourage a thoroughly personal experience with both music and musicians. HCMS also places increasing emphasis on bringing chamber music to new audiences. Ensembles undertake outreach activities including master classes and performances for high school and university students. And, seeking out groups who bring classical music values to music from non-Classical traditions, HCMS in recent seasons has included genres, including the tango, Klezmer music, and the music of Persia.

HCMS grew out of the activities of the Honolulu Chamber Music Group, a collection of chamber music players and enthusiasts who first formally met in 1955 at the home of Mrs. Louise Judd. Initially limiting itself to the organization of house concerts by local musicians, the group eventually made the decision to make the concerts public, resulting in an invitation to the Lasalle Quartet, who inaugurated the Series with a 1957 performance at the University of Hawaii’s Farrington Hall.

Prior to this, international ensembles had visited Hawaii on an irregular basis: the London String Quartet was stranded here during World War II, the Kolisch Quartet gave six concerts in 1936, and in 1937 the Coolidge Quartet put on a series of performances, accompanied on their trip by sponsor and noted chamber music patron Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. With the founding of HCMS, for the first time, a true chamber music season came into being.

Early seasons included a mix of local quartets, including the Honolulu String Quartet and the Honolulu Symphony String Quartet, with celebrity ensembles such as the Amadeus and Fine Arts Quartets and the Alma Trio. With the advent of jet travel in the 1960s, Hawaii was no longer a remote destination, and HCMS was able to attract many more international groups.

Honolulu Chamber Music Series Board of Directors

  • Jonathan Korth, President
  • George Hudes, Vice Presidents of Operations
  • Pamela Simon, Assistant Treasurer
  • James Di Giambattista, Secretary
  • Tracy Boval
  • Helen Chao-Casano
  • Andrew Char
  • Andrew Char
  • Craig DeSilva
  • Lucia Kye
  • Amy Mitsuda
  • Fred Pablo
  • Heidi Rian
  • Rebecca Sawai