Dane, kick us off with the vision of Mele for Maui and what people can expect tomorrow night.

Well, we're so pumped to be here.

The Hawaii Symphony Orchestra has not been to a neighbor island in over 10 years.

So it's really significant for us, as the newly designated state orchestra of Hawaii, signed into law by Governor Josh Green, to be here and kick off our neighbor island touring Here in Lahaina, here in Maui, we're bringing the whole orchestra.

So you're going to have up to 70 people on stage with some amazing artists like Rai Te Ahelm, Emi Hanaialii, Keola Beamer, Jeff Peterson, John Cruz.

I mean, there's amazing people.

With the full Hawaii Symphony Orchestra on stage, there's going to be a special commissioned piece by Sean Hickey, who is a Maui resident for many years, that's written specifically about Maui and its natural beauty.

Dan, Dane, how does that feel?

When did you first make it to a podium? And did you immediately see this not just as your opportunity to lead an ensemble, but to engage this broader narrative?

No, it's something that dawned on me gradually, I think, over time as I started to become more cognizant of my own cultural background, my own cultural prejudices, and just the depth and breadth of culture in the world.

And a lot of it, I think, had to do with me starting in Xi'an back in 2014.

It was the most in touch I'd ever been with the Chinese side of my heritage.

And through that, apart from performing some of these European works, which was also important for the city to experience, I myself was introduced to so many Chinese composers and Chinese instruments, Zhao Jiping, Ye Xiaogang, whose music I just recorded with the Liverpool Philharmonic.

These are composers that I'd never heard of before.

And instruments that I'd never worked with, the pipa, the sheng, the orhu, throat singing from Mongolia, which is very close to Xi'an, actually.

It's my sense that for you, commissions and developing new work is a key factor in bringing in these new audiences, more so than working to frame Beethoven 9 in a way that engages them or frame the canon in a way that interests them.