Hawaii Symphony Orchestra announces key leadership hire ahead of new concert season

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Hawaii Symphony Orchestra announced on Tuesday a key leadership hire ahead of the 2023 to 2024 concert season.

Following a unanimous vote by the HSO board, Dane Lam will be taking on the role as music director — providing creative leadership to the 84-member orchestra.

“Over the years, I have come to know Dane as someone not only gifted with incredible artistic insight and conducting prowess, but someone who understands the power a symphony orchestra can have in positively shaping a community,” said Dave Moss, president and CEO of HSO.

Originally from Australia, Lam made his American debut at the Hawaii Theatre in March 2022 as a guest conductor for HSO.

“This is a group of musicians who are committed to Hawaii and to its people, committed to all of you,” Lam said.

As music director, Lam will oversee selection of HSO’s performance repertoire for each concert season and organize performances by guest artists and conductors.

He will spearhead existing and new community engagement projects — including music education programs such as the “Symphony of Hawaiian Birds” and “Symphony of Hawaii Forests.”

“Music expresses the inexpressible. It communicates in a universal way,” Lam said. “It helps us to feel feelings that we cannot put into words, and it helps us, it provokes us to question what’s just, what’s right and reminds us of what we have in common as people in the face of some big shared social and environmental challenges.”

His contract will run through 2027.

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