A celebration of music and wine collided with alumni and their guests at the third annual PAA Hawaii Virtuosos and Vino event at the Sullivan Courtyard and Dillingham Hall. Attendees enjoyed music by a Punahou Music School quartet and a vegetable-centric tasting menu by alumnus Ed Kenney ‘86, chef and owner of Mud Hen Water in Kaimuki. The pre-reception was followed by VIP seating in Dillingham to attend the Concerto Concert, featuring four outstanding Academy soloists who were selected from the competitive Punahou Symphony Concert Audition in the fall.
At the reception, President Dr. Mike Latham ‘86 spoke to the crowd, emphasizing the admiration and respect that he had for these young musicians who devote much of their time to their musical craft. Director of Orchestras Craig Young highlighted that the Concerto Concert was over 20 years old and the program has graduated many top-notch musicians like Laura Jean Keller ‘06, who has been featured multiple times on National Public Radio’s From the Top and plays the violin for the San Francisco Ballet and Grammy-award winning bassist Shawn Conley ’01, who has been playing with the Silkroad Ensemble for six years and is a member of the Brooklyn-based chamber orchestra The Knights. The event came to a close after Punahou senior Keon Sagara ’23 described his experience of playing music and his aspirations of being admitted to one of the music schools he hopes to attend after graduation this year.