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 Tony Lu visited Morning Café ahead of his March 24 solo recital at the UH Orvis Auditorium that will feature original transcriptions and classical improvisations from Beethoven to Rochberg. -
Raiatea Helm and Jim Moffitt of Chamber Music Hawaiʻi drop by the studio to discuss Raiatea's upcoming appearance with the Spring Wind Quintet at Palikū Theater and Blue Note Hawaiʻi. Their program includes classics by Johann Strauss along with Hawaiian favorites. -
Noted recitalist Caroline Robinson, First-Prize winner of the Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival, stopped by Morning Café to talk about her upcoming concert at the Central Union Church in Honolulu. -
Clare Stewart, founder of the London-based a cappella group, Apollo5, stopped by Morning Café to share about the group’s eclectic new album “Invocations.” -
Jackie Cordova-Arrington and Steve Vacchi of the Oregon Wind Quintet stop by Morning Café to share about their series of outreach events in tandem with the University of Hawaiʻi. -
Trombonist Jason Byerlotzer joins Morning Café to share about the upcoming Honolulu Brass Quintet performances featuring the Leonard Bernstein Suite for Brass. -
Nigel North of Les Voix Humaines visits Morning Café to share about their Feb. 18 concert at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu. A presentation of Early Music Hawaii, the ensemble will play John Dowland's “Lachrimae – the 7 Teares.” -
Pianist Victor Simonson and baritone Leon Williams visit Morning Café to share about their concert, Encore II: A musical tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. that took place at Kawaiahaʻo Church on January 16. -
Gene Schiller welcomes pianist Joyce Yang back to the HPR-2 studio to preview her upcoming concerts with Chamber Music Hawaiʻi. -
Dr. Patrick T.S. Yim joins Gene Schiller on Morning Café to explore a few tracks from the new album, “Digital Mist: Works for Violin and Piano.”
