LAHAINA — The 2010 Maui Invitational Music Festival presents a free classical music concert on Saturday, May 22 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Baldwin Home,  Front Street in Lahaina.

Chamber music will be performed by the Maui Brass Ensemble, Maui Cello Quartet and Maui Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (MYPO)’s violin trio.

The Maui Brass Ensemble will feature many well-known composers in transcriptions of major works, such as Rachmaninoff’s Ave Maria, J.S. Bach’s Contrapunctus 1 from the Art of the Fugue and Purcell’s Trumpet Tune and Ayre. 

In addition, there will be several pieces composed specifically for the instruments featured in a brass quintet, i.e., Cheetham’s Scherzo. The rich sounds of two trumpets, French horn, trombone and tuba will also be heard in the works of Handel, Mendelsohn and Copland.

For more than twenty years, the Maui Brass Ensemble has performed on Maui, specializing in classical music and well-known annual holiday concerts. Members are top notch musicians and regular performers with Maui Pops and the Maui Community Band.    

Lisa Owen, tuba player and leader of the group, has played professionally both in Europe and the United States. She taught music at Seabury Hall for eighteen years before her retirement. Currently, she is the conductor of the Maui Community Band.

Lance Jo, trumpet, is retired from Baldwin High School after being the band leader there for 35 years. Now he is the conductor of the MYPO.

Stephen Rodrigues, trombone, is the current band director at Baldwin High. When he’s not teaching, he performs in various musicals and other musical events.

Cody Sarmiento, trumpet, is a popular and highly sought-after musician in Hawaii.

Sue Nakama, French horn, has been part of the Maui music scene for more than 40 years.

The Maui Cello Quartet is a collaboration of cellists of the Maui Pops Orchestra.  Silvina Samuel is a graduate of the University of Victoria with a Bachelor of Music .

Cheryl Lindley earned a BA/BM in cello performances from the University of Washington and performed with various orchestras and chamber groups in the Seattle area. She has also taught the cello for more than 30 years.

Ron Schecter holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and degrees from New York University Law School. He has performed throughout the New York City metropolitan area, including as opening act (string quartet) for the rock group Meat Loaf. 

Michelle Ancheta began playing cello at age 10. Her father, the late Dr. José Romero, wanted his four children to form their own string quartet, and Michelle was assigned the cello.  She has performed with Uluwehi Guerrero, Keali‘i Reichel and Willie K and plays regularly with the Maui Pops.

Founded in 2005 by Iolani Yamashiro, Maui Youth Philharmonic Orchestra serves to introduce the fine arts of music to the many talented children of Maui.  More than 70 adults and students from schools throughout Maui are involved in MYPO’s performance groups.

Now a showcase museum, the Baldwin Home, 696 Front Street in Lahaina, was built of coral and stone in the early 1800s for missionary and doctor Dwight Baldwin. Faithfully restored by the Lahaina Restoration Foundation, it is open daily for tours. Visitors will find many of the original furnishings including household furniture, photographs and artifacts.

The Maui Invitational Music Festival is presented by Arts Education for Children Group (AECG), a nonprofit organization founded in 1996 that is dedicated to providing opportunities for artistic and cultural enrichment for the Maui community. The Festival is supported by the County of Maui Office of Economic Development and Hawai‘i Tourism Authority.

Admission to the open-air May 22 concert is free.

There is paid parking behind the Baldwin Home (enter from Dickenson Street) and proceeds go toward the preservation and continued maintenance of all Lahaina’s historic sites.

For a complete schedule of the 2010 Maui Invitational Music Festival’s workshops, classes and concerts, visit www.aecg.org or call (808) 283-3576.