Gene Schiller
Music Director; Host, Morning ConcertGene Schiller joined HPR in September, 1993 as a board operator. His first break came when he was asked to fill in for Music Director Alan Bunin. Six months later, he became the new host of Evening Concert, a program that runs on HPR-2 from 6 to 8 p.m. on weeknights.
In 1996, Gene was invited to take over the Sunday morning classical program, Sunday Brunch, which at the time was scheduled from 10 to noon. "About three years later, I turned it into a request program," he recalls, "and soon after that it was expanded to run from 9 to noon, still in the request format."
Gene, who continues on Sunday Brunch, now hosts Morning Cafe and Morning Concert every morning from 8:00 a.m. to noon. All three are regularly scheduled local classical programs heard on HPR-2.
Gene was named HPR's Music Director in 2001.
He was born in Los Angeles, and his family moved to Hawaiʻi in 1959 just as he entered the third grade. He's lived here ever since, attending St. Louis and then Kaimuki High School. Gene has been in radio for 18 years. He originally joined KORL as a host for a big band show. "I come from a family of musicians," he recalls, "and I am the only member who isn't a musician, doesn't read music or play an instrument - but I've always been a good listener."
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Pianist Michelle Cann visited Morning Concert ahead of her appearance with the Honolulu Chamber Music Series on May 20.
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Early Music Hawaii president Ian Capps and singer Keane Ishii join Morning Café to discuss the ensemble’s upcoming concert, Rome 1600: The Glories of the Italian Baroque.
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Pianist and composer Billy Childs visited Morning Café in advance of his appearance with Chamber Music Hawaiʻi’s ensemble groups at Blue Note Hawaii.
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Ian Capps joins host Gene Schiller to discuss Early Music Hawaii's upcoming event featuring Ciaramella presenting "Tourdions!," a celebration of dances and circle songs from the Renaissance.
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James Kealey, winner of the First Prize and Audience Prize at the 2022 American Guild of Organists National Young Artist Competition, joins Morning Café to discuss his upcoming Hawaiʻi debut on March 3 at the 19th Annual American Guild of Organists (Hawai‘i Chapter) Organ Recital.
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Pianist and Van Cliburn International Piano Competition medalist Anna Geniushene visited Morning Café ahead of her appearance at UH Mānoa's Orvis Auditorium on March 3 and the UH Hilo Performing Arts Center on March 5.
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Galliard String Quartet members Helen Liu and Anna Womack stop by Morning Café to preview their upcoming concert exploring Nordic landscapes and Eastern rhythms.
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Chamber Music Hawaiʻi’s Jim Moffitt and Honolulu Brass Quintet trumpet player JoAnn Lamolino visit Morning Café to share about the quintet's "Holiday Brass" concert.
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Chamber Music Hawaiʻi’s Jim Moffitt visits Morning Café to share about their upcoming concert featuring the unique pairing of percussion and wind quintet. "Rhythmic Resonance and Breath of Sound."
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Debra Nagy and Scott Metcalfe, musicians with the Ohio-based music ensemble, Les Délices, join Gene Schiller to preview their concert “14th Century Avant-Garde” which took place on Nov. 11 in Honolulu and on Nov. 12 in Kealakekua.
