The BYU-Hawaii Salsa Orchestra and Brass Quintet visited the island of Kauai from March 6 to 9 to showcase their talents in four performances and allow the students to interact with Latter-day Saints and others during the tour.
The 21 student musicians who went to the Garden Island, led by directors Dr. Darren Duerden and Dr. David Kammerer, had the chance to play performances at different locations all over the island, including Kapaa High School, where BYU-Hawaii alumna Catherine Paleka is the music teacher. Dr. Duerden said this was his third tour to Kauai, and that he has visited the high school each time, because he feels it important "to show them a product of artistic excellence" and "service [the] alumni."
The students also performed at the Kekaha Ward potluck dinner, the Kauai Community College Performing Arts Center — one of the premier concert halls on the island, the Kukui Grove Shopping Center and at a fireside on Sunday night at the Lihue Stake Center. Some of the students said the latter provided them the opportunity to play a different style of performance.
The fireside was well-attended, especially by those who had come to their earlier salsa performances, said singer Keola Harrison, a junior from the Big Island majoring in Music and English, who has been with the orchestra for one year. She also said no salsa music was played at the fireside, but it was still a highlight of the trip. "We are representatives of BYU-Hawaii and the most important thing to us is our membership [in the Church]. That's what unites us, first of all. To be in that setting together, sharing our testimonies, singing and praising God, that's the coolest thing you can do and that's what brought us the closest on the trip."
While on Kauai the student musicians stayed with host families, arranged by tour coordinator Eldon McIlwain, with BYU-Hawaii University Advancement. He said host families are "essential on these tours" for many reasons. "We are very grateful to the members who hosted our students and staff because they make these trips possible by helping us keep costs down and allowing students to interact with members in other locations. This also allows the members to see the caliber of students at BYU-Hawaii."
Guitar player John Smart, a senior from La Brea, California, majoring in music with an emphasis on guitar, said staying with the host families was his favorite part of the tour. "Every family I have stayed with has shown aloha in the real sense. They were all so hospitable and so funny, so great to hang out with. That's what makes the tour really fun for me."
The students also had fun with their performance at the Kukui Grove Shopping Center, because it was outdoors and had a different feel to it, said McIlwain. "Everyone was receptive, people could hear us throughout the entire mall. People were coming over to see what the noise was about, because it is a unique sound, and they were up and dancing, having fun."
Bo Kyoung Seo, the piano player for the orchestra for the past two years, a senior from Seoul, South Korea, majoring in vocal performance, said she "really liked our last performance at the mall. It was a little unique because it was outside."
Baritone saxophone player, Jared Hinton, a junior in international cultural studies and political science from Prescott, Arizona, really enjoyed all of the performances, but was also excited to visit Kauai because he had heard of its beauty. He said he particularly enjoyed Kipu Falls and Waimea Canyon. Hinton said he learned to love salsa on his mission. "Having served in Mexico, I was around it and I love that type of music. And I always love playing jazz music." He added the audience can make or break the performance. In Kauai, the audiences "were always very positive. As a band you always like to see people really getting into it. After every performance, people said they really enjoyed it."
Dr. Duerden felt the trip was a success because the BYUH group was able to share talents and music with people in a new way. "I always like to think that when I take a program to the neighbor islands that perhaps we are exposing some of the audience members to a type of music that they are unfamiliar with, and I like to think that we are bringing that element in a wholesome way to those audiences that makes them see this kind of music in a different light, that it's joyful, that it's fun. I feel disappointed if I don't hear audience members say that they are seeing this music in a new light."
Bo Kyoung Seo remembered the local people saying "it was the first time they had heard salsa music. They didn't know what it was about, but they liked it. Some of them even recorded the whole concert."
—Photos by Monique Saenz