The Hawai’i Symphony ‘Ohana joins the entire arts and culture community in mourning the loss of Sarah M. Richards, who passed away peacefully, on January 26, 2025.

Sarah was a staunch and loyal supporter of HSO. Over the decades, Sarah and her husband, Manning, held dear their seats for all HSO performances. It was Sarah's vision and her Herculean force that rescued the Hawaii Theatre from demolition and returned the once magnificent and proud performance venue to its former glory. Without Sarah, HSO and other performers and performance companies would not have that beautiful venue to entertain, inspire and educate tens of thousands of members of our statewide community annually. 

While we mourn Sarah's loss, we celebrate the gifts she gave us and express our gratitude that we were blessed by her steel will and the disarming twinkle in her eye, without the magical combination of which she would not have accomplished so much for all of us.

– Kenneth S. Robbins on behalf of the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra

Listen to Concert Conversations from our January Halekulani Masterworks performance, JoAnn Conducts Pictures at an Exhibition, on the HSO YouTube Channel! Guitarist JIJI and HSO Conductor Emeritus JoAnn Falletta, discuss the rallying cries in Rodrigo, Mussorgsky, and Kodaly, with HSO Composer in Residence Michael-Thomas Foumai.

Listen to Concert Conversations from our December Halekulani Masterworks performance, Tchaikovsky’s Pathetique, on the HSO YouTube Channel! Mezzo Soprano Fleur Barron, Music and Artistic Director Dane Lam, talk the complexities of love and loss in music with host, Michael-Thomas Foumai.