Cayne Hiraoka is one of the saxophone players performing in a free concert at Roosevelt High School on Sunday, March 30. He is part of the University of Hawaiʻi’s saxophone choir, which is having its 29th annual concert at 4 p.m. in the high school’s auditorium.
The concert includes “Finlandia,” by Sibelius, “An der Wiege,” by Grieg, and the iconic “Fanfare for the Common Man,” by Copland. There will also be a piece by Nigel Wood, called “Stemming + ,” which is Hiraoka’s favorite part of the concert.
“It's a very minimal piece, and it just layers and layers on top of each other,” he told Aloha State Daily. “And I just think it sounds really cool because of that.”
The upcoming concert will include the Hawaiʻi High School Saxophone Ensemble, which consists of students across Oʻahu. The performers include saxophone players, along with a bass player and a few percussionists, he added.
Hiraoka is a 2024 Nā Hōkū ʻOpio winner who picked up the saxophone going into seventh grade through the summer school program at S.W. King Intermediate School.
“I don't know why I picked the saxophone, actually,” he said. “I really enjoyed playing the saxophone. From the beginning, I knew that it was for me.”
Today, Hiraoka is a college freshman at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where he is majoring in music education. He comes from a musical family. His father, Michael Hiraoka, played saxophone in high school. His mother, Sandra Hiraoka, played the flute.
The upcoming concert is being sponsored by the nonprofit Hawaiʻi Saxophone Foundation, which provides opportunities for “emerging and established saxophonists, contributing to their artistic and professional development,” according to its website. The group offers student scholarships and hosts a Super Saxophone Series, bringing in professional saxophone players and offering students a chance to see them in concert and sometimes work directly with them in free master classes.
“It's good to come support this organization because it's a nonprofit, and it brings education and awareness to the saxophone,” Hiraoka said. “And it provides so many opportunities for students and members of the saxophone community.”
Katie Helland can be reached at katie@alohastatedaily.com.
