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The Eli Duo 2.0, Classical & Island-Inspired Music, Atherton, Jan 28

On January 28, Hawai?i Symphony violinist and singer/songwriter Nancy Shoop-Wu teams up with slack key/classical guitarist Ian O’Sullivan in HPR's Atherton Studio for a program of classical, tango, and original works that celebrate the beauty and aloha spirit of the islands. Both are Yale School of Music graduates and recent N? H?k? Hanohano Award finalists. The evening's program is taken from their recent CDs, Rainbow Road (Shoop-Wu) and Songs from the North Shore (O'Sullivan).

Reservations for "The Eli Duo 2.0" on Saturday, January 28, at 7:30 p.m. may be made online at www.hprtickets.org or by calling the station (955-8821) during regular business hours. Tickets are $30 general, $25 for HPR members, and $15 for students with ID; service fees are applied to online orders. The Atherton Studio is located at Hawai?i Public Radio, 738 K?heka Street. Doors open a half hour before the performance. Advance ticket purchase strongly encouraged as the house is frequently sold out before the performance date.

About the artists
Violinist and singer/songwriter Nancy Shoop-Wu began her musical life in Connecticut, where she began playing the violin at the age of 9. A graduate of the Yale School of Music, she began her professional career playing in symphony orchestras, landing a position in the Filarmonica de Caracas when she was just 20 years old. After moving to Hawai?i to accept a position in the Honolulu Symphony (now Hawai?i Symphony), she began to explore a broader musical world as a member of the Honolulu Symphony Pops Orchestra.
 
Inspired by the rich musical world of Hawaii, Nancy found her unique voice as a composer when she began combining her love of Hawaiian, new age, and western classical music. Her original island-inspired songs also feature top Hawai?i musicians Jeff Peterson, Ian O’Sullivan, Dean Taba, Garin Poliahu, and Los Angeles arranger, producer and pianist Derek Nakamoto.
 
Nancy has recorded two solo CDs, Beautiful Mana'o and Rainbow Road.

Proclaimed by Classical Guitar as "thoughtful" and praised by The Honolulu Advertiser as "delightful," Ian O'Sullivan is a classically-trained guitarist and composer from the North Shore of O'ahu. Well-versed in Hawaiian slack-key guitar and the ?ukulele, in addition to the Western classical repertoire, O’Sullivan has performed throughout the United States, including at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall, New York Guitar Society, and Hawai?i Public Radio Atherton Studio. His first solo album Born and Raised was nominated for three N? H?k? Hanohano Awards in 2014, including Instrumental Composition of the Year and Most Promising New Artist. His most recent CD is Songs from the North Shore.
 
As a child, O?Sullivan began playing the ?ukulele by ear. He then experimented with electric guitar in a rock band during high school years at the Kamehameha Schools, familiarizing himself with contemporary style of rock and blues. During his years at the University of Hawai?i, he transformed from a non-music-literate garage-band guitarist to being the first and only guitarist from Hawai?i to be accepted at Yale University’s School of Music, where he received the Yale Elliot Fisk Award.
 
Since 2012, O?Sullivan has been a lecturer in classical guitar at UH M?noa. During the 2016 season, he appeared in performance at the New York Classical Guitar Society, Minnesota Guitar Society, The California Conservatory of Guitar, University of Indianapolis, The Cue-Concord, the Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Festival, and Benjamin Verdery’s Maui Guitar Class.

Read original press release here.

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