There’s plethora
of prodigiesDUELING prodigies: Well, not really dueling, but two young musical wunderkind will be appearing not far from one another on Sunday afternoon. You may have read yesterday's feature story on Yoon Kwon, the 18-year-old violinist who'll be performing Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" with the Honolulu Symphony Sunday at 4 p.m. and again Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. In fact, at 18 she admits to not objecting to being called "a former child prodigy." But at Orvis Auditorium, lost in the glamour of the Symphony and the Concert Hall, is a prodigy who is a real child. She's 10-year-old pianist Bronika Kushkuley and she'll be giving a recital presented by Arts in Performance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting performing arts in Hawaii ...
AND if those prodigies (or in Kwon's case, former prodigy) aren't enough, there'll be a third performance of a ten-keyboard recital by 15 of Ellen Masaki's students at 7:30 tonight in the Atherton Performing Arts Studio at 738 Kaheka St. Hawaii Public Radio presents this unscheduled performance by popular demand, as were the first two ... And KHPR took its life and sanity in its hands when it asked Honolulu Lite columnist Charles Memminger to write a letter urging contributions. In it he manages to mention people as diverse as Ken Starr, Gennifer Flowers and Skip Spiceland. They're hoping it'll tickle some funnybones and get a positive response ...
Wave hello
NOBODY is more excited about tonight's UH vs. Pepperdine men's volleyball game than Doug Rigg, public relations manager of the Official All Star Cafe. The 6-4 Punahou alum is something of an "All Star" himself, having helped the Pepperdine Wave win two consecutive NCAA volleyball championships in 1985 and '86, ably assisted by his brother Matt. (Star-Bulletin writer Jerry Tune has to be a bit torn since his son, Rick Tune, who played three years with UH, is now finishing out his college eligibility at Pepperdine and says, "I'm a Wave now." Rigg will be watching the games tonight and tomorrow with interest, but at the same time is preparing for the arrival of sports celeb owners, who'll be in town for the grand opening of the All Star Cafe in late April. It's not yet been determined which of the seven principals (Andre Agassi, Monica Seles, Joe Montana, Wayne Gretzky, Shaquille O'Neal, Ken Griffey Jr. and Tiger Woods) will be coming for the opening. Best bet is Montana, who loves to vacation here with his family at the Manele Bay Hotel on Lanai ...ALOHA Festivals announces a search for someone to portray the King and Prince of Hawaii in the upcoming festival, and the announcement reads they must be cleanshaven -- no beards or mustaches. Turning over in their graves about now are the likes of Kalakaua, Lunalilo, Lot Kamehameha, Alexander Liholiho and Kau'ikeaouli, none of whom would qualify using that criterion ...
How Green was my Vali
FOR 20 years Austin Vali and wife Linda have been in the radio business in Hawaii, but now it's time to switch that dial. Due to the deteriorating health of his father (Alzheimer's) in South Hold, Long Island, the Valis are moving to help look after him. The Valis sold New Planet Radio (KRTR, KGMZ, KULA and X-Treme Radio) a year ago and since then he's been acting as V.P. and G.M. for the new owners. Now it's retirement time, though they'll be tossing leis into the water, hoping one day to return to the place they'll always call home ...
Contact Dave by e-mail: donnelly@kestrok.com.