Dane Lam bridges cultures at the Hawai’i Symphony

Conductor Dane Lam, who is of Australian and Chinese descent, directs orchestras and opera companies on several continents. He currently maintains a trio of assignments as artistic director of the State Opera South Australia (Adelaide), principal conductor of the Xi’an Symphony Orchestra in China, and, since 2023, music director of the Hawai’i Symphony. His work in China, in particular, has influenced him greatly.

“This cultural mix plays well into the hands of the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra,” writes James Bash for The Strad. Lam “regularly programs pieces that feature Asian instruments like the geomungo, a Korean zither that is plucked.”

Over the years, Lam has become very familiar with the music of Ye Xiaogang and recently recorded some of his music with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra for an album entitled The Backyard of the Village, on the Signum Classics label.

Lam says:

The album takes its name from one of the tone poems in the piece that depicts the sounds and smells and feelings of village life where Xiao Gong grew up in Guangdong province in southern China.

Read the full piece here.