Valentine’s Day Concert

Last summer, a soprano told me about some modern love songs she wanted to sing for Valentine’s Day. While we never managed to get together to try them out, the conversation got me thinking about doing my own concert on Valentine’s Day.

As a young teenager, I lived on Barbara Cartland historical romance novels and Harlequin romances. In reading books on the psychology of love, I tried to form a taxonomy of the different kinds of love and the various stages of love. Ultimately I looked forward to experiencing love as I journeyed to adulthood.

I learned over the years that one has to experience it to be able to express it. I play Chopin’s nocturnes and Brahms’ intermezzi differently now than as a young college student. Similarly what I had read in theory so many decades ago has now been put into practice though not intentionally.

We now know a lot more about the brain and its chemistry when it comes to experiencing romantic love. Music comes to life when put into context. The shared experience of listening to a particular love song becomes symbolic of that relationship. As I search through my collection of love songs for Valentine’s Day, I travel down a memory lane of music I love.

The elderly audience on Tuesday 14th February 2012 have their own memories. I cannot possibly evoke significant moments without knowing the love songs of their life stories.

After a Saturday afternoon of trying out different pieces from my collection in Maui (the rest is in the Netherlands), I’ve narrowed it down to the following list. Next, I need to order them according to mood and story line. The classical works and love arias from opera will set the mood. Towards the end, I will ask the audience to join in singing the more popular songs.

Salut D’amour op. 12: Elgar
Canon in D: Pachelbel (George Winston arrangement)
Thais Meditation**: Massenet
Omio Babbino Caro (Gianni Schicchi): Puccini
E Incevan le stelle (Tosca): Puccini
Annie’s Song**: John Denver
Song Bird**: Christine McVie
I Left My Heart in San Francisco: Douglas Cross & George Cory
Besame Mucho: Consuelo Velazquez & Sunny Skylar
Can You Feel the Love Tonight: Elton John
The Moon Represents My Heart (Chinese)**
Sukiyaki: Rokusuki Ei and Hachidai Nakamura
Can’t Help Falling in Love: George David Weiss, Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore
What a Wonderful World : George David Weiss, Bob Thiele
What a Wonderful World** Iz version
Let It Be: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
Aloha Means I Love You**: Robert L. Lukens, John Avery Noble

BREAKING NEWS:
After putting this program together, I learned of the sudden death of Whitney Houston the same evening. As a tribute to her, I will include “I Will Always Love You” and “The Greatest Love of All.” This means removing a few pieces to ensure the concert lasts no longer than 1 hour — thus the asterisk ** marked here.

Piano and slack key guitar: David Ho and George Kahumoku, jr

Everyone on Maui knows who George Kahumoku is. Uncle George, we call him. He led the parade in this year’s annual Maui County Fair, possibly the largest event on the island. He is director of the new Institute of Hawaiian Music.

Yesterday I interrupted Uncle George’s slack key guitar class at Maui College to ask him to sign a copy of his recently Grammy-nominated CD “Wao Akua.” I told him that Robert Bekkers was arriving next Thursday.

“I’ll be playing at the MACC that evening,” George said. “I have a couple of interesting guests….”

I didn’t hear the rest of his sentence, for I was already trying to figure out how to make it to that concert. I had been to that concert once before. George has different guests on every show each month.  I mentally calculated that I’d have to leave campus earlier than originally planned to pick up Robert from the airport and drive back to see Uncle George’s 7:30 pm  Masters of Slack Key Guitar show.

“Are you going to eat something afterwards?” I asked. It was as if getting together was more important than the concert. That’s how musicians relate. Hungry musicians have to eat. The first time Robert and I went to the concert, we did not join George and his guests for the post-concert dining out. We had only just met. It was Thursday 10th March 2011, the eve of the tsunami.

When I returned home last evening, I checked out George’s CD. Wao Akua means the forest of the Gods in Hawaiian. It’s a simple CD with 24  instrumental solos, either written by George Kahumoku himself or his rendition of traditional melodies. The small print in one corner says it’s produced by Daniel Ho — Daniel Ho Creations, copyright 2011.

Who is Daniel Ho?

Why does his name sound so familiar?

Is he a sound engineer? CD producer? a singer? a songwriter? a composer? a guitar player? a pianist?

All of the above. And more.

Tonight I saw a video clip of Daniel Ho on the piano and George Kahumoku on guitar. Piano and guitar. Piano and slack key guitar. Now that’s a combination I have not heard yet.

Watch the video of Amazing Grace with David Ho, piano and George Kahumoku, Jr, slack key guitar at the MACC

When I re-read the 15th December 2011 gig announcement, I saw that Daniel Ho is one of the special guests. It’s a show not to be missed!

George Kahumoku, jr Wao Akua - Grammy nominated CD