ByMichael Tweed, Associated Press
After the Honolulu Symphony concert at Hollywood Bowl,
a musician quipped, "It looks just like the
Waikiki Shell but uglier."

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Hollywood concert grosses
$212,000 for symphony

By Tim Ryan
Star-Bulletin

Tenor Keith Ikaia-Purdy, who recently performed with the Honolulu Symphony at the Waikiki Shell and the Hollywood Bowl, will record his first album with the orchestra beginning next September.

The Orvis Foundation has donated $25,000 to the Symphony to help fund the recording with the stipulation that the symphony raise another $50,000, said symphony executive director Michael Tiknis.

The first portion of the recording will be a live concert at the opening of the 1998-99 season. The album, which will take four to six months to complete, will include arias, overtures and some Hawaiian songs. The symphony is in discussions with Sony to be distributor, Tiknis said.

The Hollywood Bowl performance last Sunday was the debut at the renowned venue not only for the symphony, but conductor Sam Wong, slack-key guitarists George Kuo and Dennis Kamakahi, Keali'i Reichel and even Miss Universe Brook Lee.

Highlights from Hollywood:

After seeing the Hollywood Bowl from the rear, a symphony musician joked that "It looks just like the Waikiki Shell but uglier."

Following his performance, Ikaia-Purdy returned to Vienna to prepare for a Sept. 16 concert there;

Miss Universe Brook Lee left Monday for a six-day trip to Thailand to represent a clothing sponsor. She attended the Bowl performance with her mother, Toni, brother Brendon, and family friend Charly Kapua, King Kamehameha in the Aloha Week parade; Lee is scheduled to return to Hawaii in November for the Grand Slam golf tournament on Kauai with Tiger Woods;

Emme Tomimbang arranged for Stevie Wonder to attend the concert after learning that Reichel was a big fan. Reichel didn't know Wonder was in the audience until he visited backstage.

The symphony did "a little better than break even," grossing about $212,000 with about 8,200 tickets sold, Tiknis said. It cost about $150,000 to use the venue, advertise and other miscellaneous expenses.

Travel expenses to Los Angeles cost about $75,000 -- including four passenger seats used for the cellos -- and two nights' stay. Hawaiian Airlines, a corporate sponsor of the symphony, provided more than 100 round-trip tickets at a reduced rate and several tickets were complimentary.

"We are making concerted efforts to work closer with institutions that represent Hawaii well," explained Blaine Miyasato, Hawaiian Airlines representative. "The Hollywood Bowl appearance by the symphony is a prime example of what we want to help promote."

On the same flight to L.A. as the symphony were the Ka'au Crater Boys, enjoying Hawaiian's luxurious first-class cabin. They were performing at a Hawaiian music event in Orange County.