Big Island Singers offer free concerts of art, faith and hope

Big Island Singers brings a free spring series to East Hawaii

Big Island Singers is turning three East Hawaii churches into free concert halls with a program built around art, faith and hope. In a county where time, distance and cost can narrow access to live performance, the offer stands out as a low-barrier cultural outing with a clear community purpose.

The 34-person chorus, led by founder and director Douglas S. Albertson, will present “Poems, Prayers, and Promises: Celebrating Art, Faith and Hope” across Hilo and Keaau. Donations are welcomed, but admission is free, and the group describes its concerts as family friendly gatherings in local churches that bring the community together through the love of music.

A three-part program with a clear emotional arc

This is not a loose mix of songs. The spring program is organized into three sections, moving from poems to prayers and then to promises, which gives the concert a shape that mirrors the title’s journey from reflection to reassurance. Albertson has described the repertoire as a collection of inspirational lyrics, soul-filled music and uplifting sentiments, a fitting response to difficult times.

The poems section opens with “To Sit and Dream,” built on the poetry of Langston Hughes, and continues with “Goodnight Moon,” set by composer Eric Whitacre. That pairing grounds the first part of the concert in literature and gentle imagination before the music turns more spiritual.

The prayers section reaches into grief, contemplation and communal singing. It includes Hye-Young Cho’s “Evocation (Mon-Nee-Joh),” sung in Korean, and centers on Ola Gjeilo’s “Evening Prayer,” which gives Hilo saxophonist Heather Sexton a featured role. The presence of a local instrumentalist in the heart of the program adds another layer of East Hawaii connection to a piece rooted in a wider choral tradition.

The promises section closes the evening with spirituals and uplift. Audiences will hear “Ezekiel Saw de Wheel,” “Deep River,” and a jazz-styled arrangement of “Rainbow Connection,” a combination that moves from tradition to a more contemporary and playful finish. The result is a concert that feels intentionally shaped for listeners who want beauty, solace and momentum in one sitting.

Local voices and returning collaborators

The chorus’s spring series also brings back familiar performers. Pianist Doug Howell returns to accompany Big Island Singers, and he also sings and presents an original solo composition. His role gives the program a more intimate texture, since he is not only supporting the ensemble but also stepping forward as an artist in his own right.

Baritone Ken Hirano sings a solo in Franz Biebl’s “Ave Maria,” adding another featured voice to the lineup. Hirano has described the joy he has found performing with the group over multiple seasons, a reminder that the chorus is built not only on repertoire but on continuity, trust and local musical relationships.

Those relationships matter. Big Island Singers has repeatedly framed its seasonal concerts around shared themes, and that pattern has helped make the ensemble a recognizable part of East Hawaii’s cultural calendar. In 2025, the group presented “Flora-n-Fauna: 500 Years of Songs about Nature” in three Hilo-area concerts. Hawaii Public Radio noted that series as a chance to talk about music, friendship and community, while a 2024 Hawaii Tribune-Herald report said the chorus had 37 singers for its “EarthSeaSky!” season. This year’s 34-person ensemble shows the group remains active, even as its size shifts from season to season.

Where and when to go

The series is designed for easy access across East Hawaii, with one concert each on consecutive days.

The schedule is:

• Friday, May 1, 2026, 7 p.m. at Church of the Holy Cross, 440 W. Lanikaula St., Hilo
• Saturday, May 2, 2026, 4 p.m. at First United Protestant Church, 1350 Waianuenue Ave., Hilo
• Sunday, May 3, 2026, 4 p.m. at Center for Spiritual Living, 15-1833 Paradise Drive, Keaau

That spread matters for a Big Island audience. Instead of asking neighbors to travel far or pay for a ticketed performance, the chorus is placing the music inside familiar neighborhood spaces, first in Hilo and then in Keaau. The timing also gives working families and weekend planners three different chances to fit live music into a spring schedule.

Why the venues deepen the story

The church setting is not incidental. Big Island Singers says its concerts are family friendly and held in local churches, which makes the series feel like a shared civic event as much as a performance. The choice of First United Protestant Church carries added historical weight, since the church says it was founded in 1868 and identifies itself as part of the United Church of Christ.

That history gives the Saturday concert a distinct sense of place. A building that has served the community for more than a century and a half becomes a listening room for music that moves from Hughes to Whitacre, from Korean-language choral reflection to spirituals, from sacred repertoire to a jazz-flavored “Rainbow Connection.” The venue list, in other words, reinforces the program’s theme: rootedness without rigidity, tradition without distance.

For East Hawaii, the appeal is practical as well as artistic. Free admission lowers the barrier for families, students, elders and anyone making careful budget choices. The concerts also offer something increasingly rare: a chance to hear local musicians and guest voices in intimate spaces, without leaving the county or spending much to be part of a live audience.

Big Island Singers has built this spring series around music that asks for reflection and gives back hope. In Hilo and Keaau, that combination should land not as abstraction but as a welcome invitation to gather.