Member Handbook

WHO WE ARE

The Honolulu Wind Ensemble (formerly known as the Honolulu Community Concert Band) is a state & federally recognized tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, comprised of volunteer members who enjoy playing instrumental music and performing for the community. All walks of life are represented within HWE, including teachers, lawyers, engineers, scientists, military personnel, doctors, students, and retirees.

Since 1973, HWE has performed a wide variety of entertaining and challenging band literature, from marches & light pop to classical works and symphonic transcriptions. HWE has performed at historic Hawaii Theatre, the Honolulu Academy of Arts, Kawaiaha’o Church, the State Capitol, and Honolulu Hale (City Hall). Regular performances are scheduled throughout the year at Ala Moana Centerstage, M.M. Scott Auditorium, and at various schools, shopping centers, and festivals on the island of Oahu.

HWE has entertained thousands of people in Hawaii and throughout the world via its live performances, television broadcasts, internet website and webcasts. HWE has performed at the request of the Mayor of Honolulu, the Governor of Hawaii, the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, the Hawaii Music Awards, and was featured at the Aloha Tower Marketplace’s annual 4th-of-July Fireworks Spectacular.

Guest performers at previous HWE concerts include former Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle, local entertainer Amy Hanaialii Gilliom, the late Loyal Garner, Honolulu Symphony principal trombonist James Decker, Australian Ballet & Opera Orchestra principal trumpet Brian Evans, and South Jutland (Denmark) Symphony principal trombonist Don Immel. The 2004 Fall Concert helped to raise over $80,000 to reunite Iraq-bound soldiers of the Hawaii National Guard’s 29th Brigade with their families at Christmas. In 2006, the band traveled to New Zealand and Australia, performing at the world-famous Sydney Opera House. In 2008, HWE collaborated in several performances with ensembles from Azusa Pacific University, Hawaii Pacific University, and the Honolulu Symphony Chorus. HWE has a sister organization in Japan, the Omiya Wind Symphony, and have conducted two joint performances in Hawaii and Japan in 2012 and 2014. 2018 was the first joint performance with the HWE and the 111th Army National Guard Band. In June 2025, the HWE traveled back to Japan to perform once again alongside the Omiya Citizens Band, HiBiKI, and Family Winds at Plaza West Sakura Hall in Saitama.

The Band has 3 main purposes, which are (1) providing for the musical education of its members; (2) supporting music education in Oahu Public & Private Schools; and (3) encouraging the appreciation of band music within the community by providing public concerts.