The Strad | Dane Lam bridges cultures through sound at the Hawai’i Symphony

The conductor speaks to James Bash about blending Western orchestral repertoire with traditional Asian instruments, drawing on his cross-continental career to create bold, culturally resonant programmes in Honolulu.

Hawaii is one of the most multi-ethnic states in the US. More than 37 percent of its population have Asian ancestry and that is followed by White at 21 percent with other racial identities at much lower percentages. This cultural mix plays well into the hands of the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra, which is led by its music director Dane Lam, who regularly programmes pieces that feature Asian instruments like the geomungo, a Korean zither that is plucked.

Just a few months earlier this year, Lam paired Donald Womack’s Black Dragon Concerto with Korean soloist Yoon-Jeong Heo on the geomungo with Brahms’s Fourth Symphony. ’Since the geomungo is plucked string instrument that by itself would never be able to be heard over a full orchestra, we amplified it,’ said Lam, ’Just like we would do with the Rodrigo guitar concerto.’

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