As guest musicians to BYU-Hawaii, the Hawaii Symphonic Band performed “Of Sailors and Whales: Five Scenes from Melville” on Saturday, April 2 in the McKay Auditorium. The story of Moby Dick was interspersed throughout the presentation, performed by spoken word actors including Dr. Craig Ferre, professor of theatre and speech.
Organized in 2015, the HSB has provided public and educational communities with high quality musical performances. Dr. Dan Bradshaw, chair of the music department at BYUH, said, “We wanted a professional quality ensemble to come to campus, and they’re here on the island and underappreciated.”
“Of Sailors and Whales” is a piece written by W. Francis McBeth in 1990. Ernest Taniguchi, the current director of the BYUH Chamber Orchestra and the North Symphonic Wind Orchestra, directed the piece.
Taniguchi said he hoped students would be inspired to play music by bringing the HSB to campus. “I know students have such busy schedules, but you know, music is something that pulls,” he said. “If they played in high school, why not take out that horn again and play?”
The piece involved spoken word performances from five actors who portrayed the characters in the story of Moby Dick. Dr. Ferre played Ahab, the ship captain who lost his leg to the great white whale. Reyna Shumway, a sophomore majoring in music from Laie, said, “It was the first time I’ve seen [Dr. Ferre] act, and he was amazing.”Moby Dick, written by Herman Melville, tells the story of Ishmael, played by Leo F.
Good Jr. Ishmael the protagonist, is hired as a sailor on the ship Pequod alongside with Queequeg, a fearsome-looking harpooner played by Vavae Tata. Elijah’s daughter, a prophetess played by Kadeen Welch-Taniguchi, speaks of an ominous prophecy surrounding Ahab.
Father Mapple, played by local veteran actor Dennis Proulx, is a minister who gives a powerful sermon recounting Jonah being swallowed by a whale.
Taniguchi said speaking the words of Melville can be a challenge, but the actors did admirably well. “The thing about Melville, he’ll take a whole four pages to describe a doorknob. Because they didn’t have television, they didn’t have the cinema, so everything was in the imagination. These authors of old were very descriptive, and Melville’s language is kind of hard to navigate.”
Taniguchi said the orchestra was made up of 54 professional and semi-professional musicians. Due to the members’ busy schedules, the program was put together in six rehearsals. “For many of the musicians it was probably the first time they’ve stepped foot on this campus, and many of them were very pleased to come out here. We had a very appreciative audience,” Taniguchi said.
Along with performances from the HSB, the BYUH Concert Choir performed six pieces including a hymn from “Of Sailors and Whales” under the direction of Michael Belnap, professor of music.
Jo Huey, a sophomore majoring in music from Missouri, performed with the concert choir. Huey said, “It’s always really incredible when you can have a choral ensemble, as well as an instrumental ensemble, come together, because it just makes beautiful music.”
Taniguchi encouraged BYUH students to attend future ensembles. He said, “We have such an amazing music and theatre program here on our campus. Nobody in Honolulu knows about us because we’re so far over here, but we can hold our own. I am hoping more students will consider taking part and that the public beyond our North Shore community will have an opportunity to see and hear these ensembles.”