Seattle Symphony: Hawaiian Summer Holiday with Makana

• Makana, slack key guitar
• Sarah Hicks, guest conductor

Forget everything you think you know about the music of Hawai'i and open your mind to the enchanting world of Hawaiian slack key guitar! Spain features flamenco, Brazil boasts bossa nova and Hawai'i heralds slack key. An art form with indigenous Hawaiian origins of over 150 years, Hawaiian slack key guitar or Kī Hō'alu was born when the Mexican vaqueros (cowboys) gifted a guitar to their Hawaiian counterparts, who then adapted and evolved it to a sound simulating three guitars in one, like a symphony on a single instrument.

Join Makana, the world's premier slack key talent, on a breathtakingly beautiful journey through sounds and styles ancient to contemporary in one of the most melodic genres of music. Called "the greatest living player" of slack key in Esquire magazine, Makana — who learned directly from Hawaiian legends — is a master of this rarest of guitar legacies and a gifted composer who dances seamlessly between authentic tradition and exhilarating evolutions of style. From reanimations of songs that come from 19th-century Hawai'i to original compositions featured on Grammy-nominated records, Makana's "dazzling" (The New York Times) fingerwork and haunting voice, reminscent of Tim Buckley, will enchant with the magic of the Aloha state. Makana has repeatedly sold out the Nordstrom Recital Hall; this will be his first time performing with Seattle Symphony in the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium at Benaroya Hall.

About Seattle Symphony

Recognized as one of the “most vital American orchestras” (NPR), the Seattle Symphony is internationally acclaimed for its inventive programming, community-minded initiatives, and superb recordings on the Seattle Symphony Media label. With a strong commitment to new music and a legacy of over 150 recordings, the orchestra has garnered five Grammy Awards, 26 Grammy nominations, and two Emmy Awards, and was named Gramophone’s 2018 Orchestra of the Year. The Symphony performs in Benaroya Hall in the heart of downtown Seattle.

About Makana, slack key guitar

https://www.makanamusic.com/

About Sarah Hicks, guest conductor

https://www.sarahhicksconductor.com/