COURTESY WWW.AHNTRIO.COM The Ahn Trio -- sisters Angella on violin, left, Maria on cello and Lucia on piano -- will perform with the Honolulu Symphony in October as part of the 2005-2006 season.

Classical guitarist heads
musical roster

CORRECTION Tuesday, February 22, 2005 » The Honolulu Symphony Halekulani MasterWorks 2005-06 season comprises 14 pairs of concerts for a total of 28 performances in the season. A Page D1 story yesterday said incorrectly that there were seven pairs of concerts. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.

Acclaimed classical guitarist Christopher Parkening returns to Honolulu in September to kick off the Honolulu Symphony Halekulani MasterWorks 2005-06 season with a pair of concerts titled "Depth and Passion," featuring Joaquin Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez.

Symphony season Tickets for the 2005-06 Halekulani MasterWorks series go on sale Thursday: Full subscriptions: For 14 Friday or Sunday concerts, prices start at $266. Half-subscriptions: Seven concerts, $143.50 and up To order: Call 792-2000 or e-mail boxoffice@honolulusymphony.com.

The upcoming season -- with tickets on sale beginning Thursday -- features seven pairs of concerts, beginning with Parkening Sept. 9 and 11. The season finale, May 26 and 28, will be "Festivalo of Sounds," conducted by the symphony's artistic advisor, JoAnn Falletta, and featuring pianist William Wolfram.

Other artists showcased in the upcoming season include organist Anthony Newman, the return of the Ahn Trio, soprano RenŽe Fleming and violinists Jennifer Koh, Karen Gomyo and Chee-Yun.

Former symphony musical director Samuel Wong and the symphony's interim conductor JoAnn Falletta each will conduct three concert pairs.

Parkening is ranked as one of the world's pre-eminent virtuosos of classical guitar and is considered heir to the legacy of great Spanish guitarist AndrŽs Segovia. He's performed around the world, including Carnegie Hall and the White House. In 2003 he received the University Musical Society's Distinguished Artist Award at the Ford Honors Program.

In January the orchestra will pay tribute to the victims of the Ehime Maru -- the Japanese fishing vessel sunk in a collision with a U.S. nuclear submarine in 2001 -- with the world premiere of Donald Reid Womack's "Tribute and Remembrance." The work will be conducted by Naoto Otomo with Reiko Kimura on koto, Seizan Sakata on shakuhachi and the Roppongi Men's Choir.

The men of the Honolulu Symphony Chorus and Japan's Roppongi Men's Choir will perform the North American premiere of Japanese composer Shigeaki Saegusa's spirited "Cantata Tengai."

Here is the schedule:

Sept. 9 and 11: "Depth and Passion" with Christopher Parkening, guitar, performing a program of music by Ravel, Rodrigo and Mussorgsky/Ravel. Rossen Milanov conducts.

Sept. 16 and 18: "Joyful Moments" with the symphony's principal cellist Mark Votapek. The program features Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, op. 107, and Sibelius' Symphony No. 2 in D major, op. 43, with its imagery of icy fjords, snow-covered forests and the beauty of a clear winter's night. Alexander Mickelthwate conducts.

Sept. 23 and 25: "Musical Revolution" has organist Anthony Newman joining the orchestra for the Hawaii premiere of the CDS Concert Organ and Jongen's Symphonie Concertante. The program also includes Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, "Eroica." Robert Minczuk conducts.

Oct. 14 and 16: The three sisters of the Ahn Trio -- Angella, Lucia and Maria -- return for a "Journey Through Imagination" featuring Berlioz's "Le Roi Lear," Kźenji Bunch's "Hardware Concerto" and Dvor‡k's Symphony No. 6, op. 60. Samuel Wong conducts.

Oct. 21 and 23: Inspired by the landscape and music of Scotland, Korean-American violinist Jennifer Koh makes her Honolulu Symphony debut in "Fantastic Intensity," a program featuring Chen Yi's "Ge Xu (Antiphony)," Bruch's Scottish Fantasy, op. 46, and Mahler's Symphony No. 1 in D major, "Titan." JoAnn Falletta conducts.

Oct. 28 and 30: "Rhythmic Mysteries" has Italian pianist Fabio Bidini performing Dohn‡nyi's "Variations on a Nursery Theme," which takes its theme from "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Also composed on a theme, Elgar's "Enigma Variations" was the breakthrough work that launched his reputation as a composer of international stature. Heiichiro Ohyama conducts.

Nov. 11 and 13: Composed for Sergei Eisenstein's groundbreaking film "Alexander Nevsky," Prokofiev's score takes us from the struggle against imperialist aggression to a climactic battle on a frozen lake in this concert entitled "Power and Exhilaration." Norichika Iimori conducts. Mezzo-soprano Margaret Lattimore, a company favorite of the Metropolitan Opera, performs in the concert also featuring the Honolulu Symphony Chorus and chorus director Karen Kennedy.

Nov. 18 and 20: "Exotic and Impulsive" has Japanese-Canadian virtuoso Karen Gomyo joining the Honolulu Symphony with the rare "Ex Foulis" Stradivarius of 1714 to perform Lalo's "Symphonie Espagnole." This work of the violin repertoire was composed in 1873 for the renowned Spanish virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate. The program also features Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 in D major, op. 47. Jacques Lacombe conducts.

Jan. 6 and 8: The new year brings "Tribute and Remembrance," a concert honoring the memory of victims of the Ehime Maru, in the world premiere of Donald Reid Womack's work for shakuhachi, koto and orchestra. Naoto Otomo conducts.

March 24 and 26, 2006: Soprano RenŽe Fleming, acclaimed worldwide as the "gold standard of soprano sound," brings her sensuous voice, interpretive skills and stylistic versatility to the stage. Samuel Wong conducts.

April 7 and 9: The Honolulu Symphony Chorus returns to present "Requiem" in "An Homage to Mozart," conducted by Karen Kennedy. Also featured will be Stravinsky's Symphony in C. Joan Landry conducts.

April 14 and 16: In 1993 violinist Chee-Yun returned to Korea to receive the Nan Pa award, the country's highest musical honor. She will be in Hawaii for "Sublime Escape," featuring Bartok's Dance Suite; Saint-Sa‘ns Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor, op. 61; and Ravel, "Daphnis and Chloe" Suites 1 and 2. JoAnn Falletta conducts.

April 21 and 23: "Agony and Ecstasy" features HSO concertmaster Ignace "Iggy" Jang and Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2, completed in August 1935, just prior to the composer's return to Soviet Russia after nearly two decades of expatriate residence and concert tours throughout the West. Samuel Wong conducts the program also featuring Stravinsky's Symphony of Wind Instruments and Nielsen's Symphony No. 3, op. 27, "Sinfonia Espansiva."

May 26 and 28: The season finale is a "Festival of Sounds" featuring William Wolfram with an audience favorite, Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini." Also included in the program are Respighi's "Pines of Rome," reflecting the beauty of the Italian countryside, and Debussy's lustrous "Iberia." JoAnn Falletta conducts.