STAR-BULLETIN / 2003 Niklaus Schweizer, left, and Peter Schall, right, congratulate Aaron Mahi after he received the German Bundesverdienstkreuz at Iolani Palace for his work in renewing the cultural ties between the Royal Hawaiian Band and Germany.

Modest Mahi receives
German honor

The Royal Hawaiian Band leader
is presented with the Order of Merit

---

By John Berger
jberger@starbulletin.com

Bandmaster Aaron Mahi is a modest man. When a German friend suggested that he deserved the German Bundesverdienstkreuz -- the official English translation is "Order of Merit" -- for his work in strengthening the cultural ties between Hawaii and Germany, Mahi's first reaction was, "I don't think I'm worthy of this."

"I told him I'm not doing anything different from anybody else in Hawaii who's involved in the cultural aspects," Mahi said Wednesday during a quick telephone conversation that he squeezed into his hectic schedule of meetings and performances with the Royal Hawaiian Band.

Mahi would have let it drop, but his friend and advocate, Ulf Bergmann, a Berliner who spends winter in Hawaii, persisted. Bergmann contacted representatives of the German government here and in Germany, and filed the papers required to start the process. Finally, word came from Germany that the approval process was on track, but they needed to hear from Mahi himself.

Mahi still didn't think he deserved the honor, and didn't respond for "about a year."

Bergmann persisted.

"He came back to me and said they were very serious and that I should do it because of the band, do it because of the amount of German culture that's evident in the Royal Hawaiian Band. It brings the band up to another height of being recognized as a viable cultural entity -- not only here in Hawaii, but in Germany," Mahi said.

"To highlight that (visibility), for the last three years the band has been on German television ... on a show that talks about German cultural activities evident in other parts of the world."

Mahi finally accepted the award in a noontime ceremony that took place Friday at Iolani Palace.

It's a great conclusion to a story that began when Bergmann, just as a tourist, came across a public performance by the RHB. He could hardly believe his ears, but there was no doubt about it: The band was playing German music!

Bergmann and his wife made it point to attend RHB concerts, and eventually introduced themselves to Mahi, who in turn explained how Kamehameha V had asked the German government for a loan of a bandmaster, and the impact that bandmaster Heinrich "Henri" Berger (no relation to the writer) had on the development of modern Hawaiian music as RHB bandmaster.

Bergmann was intrigued by the story and surprised to find that there was relatively little awareness of Berger and his music in Germany. One of Bergmann's friends found some out-of-print Berger music booklets. Bergmann brought them on his next visit to Hawaii to share with Mahi, and the two became friends.

Bergmann continued to research Berger's music and contributions to Hawaii's musical history. With Mahi as his guide, Bergmann discovered that there were other cultural connections between Germany and Hawaii.

"He was so interested in this whole Berger relationship with Germany that we became such good friends that he began to attend some of the other musical activities that I'm involved with, such as the Hawaii Ecumenical Chorale," Mahi said.

The list included arranging Schubert songs for performance by a mixed chorus and assisting nonspeakers with the correct pronunciation of the German lyrics, working with various cultural organizations and, of course his work preserving and perpetuating the Germanic musical legacy of Berger and the RHB.

Mahi says Bergmann was pleasantly surprised to find German music being performed by community groups as well as professionals, German operas and symphonic compositions included in the Honolulu Symphony and Hawaii Opera Theatre repertoires, and that an ambitious production of "Faust" was presented at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

"He was just amazed at how much the culture of Germany is alive here," Mahi said. "There are the other aspects of musical activities, be it with the orchestra, the symphony, and then with Hawaii Ecumenical Chorale, foremost the band ... and that's how it all started."

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