Introducing HPR’s newest classical music host, Marcus Moore

Observant ears may have picked up on a new classical music host at HPR.

Marcus Moore is a musician, teacher and composer who came to Hawaiʻi when he served in the Marine Corps Forces Pacific Band. He holds a master’s degree in music composition from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and is working on a certificate in conflict resolution at the Matsunaga Institute for Peace.

Moore has been hosting Evening Concert on HPR-2 since September. He recently spoke with The Conversation about his path in music and what drives his shows on Evening Concert.

Interview highlights

On picking up music in middle school

MARCUS MOORE: When I picked up the clarinet, something sort of shifted. I became very fascinated again with having looked at the fidelity of the fingers. I want to be able to do that too. So I just found as much music as possible. And my band director at the time just took me into his library and said, ‘I want you to come here, and I’m just going to give you all this music. Go home and practice.’ And I would go home and practice like six to eight hours every single day, up until the night. And my neighbors were never upset with me. My family was never upset. They let me practice up until the wee hours of the night, until I got tired; I physically could not even talk. Sometimes that’s how much I used to practice, and that continued forth.

On teaching

MOORE: Many of the students I’ve gotten have been very hungry, and they came from the same sort of socioeconomic background I came from where I was. It was a little rough for me as a kid, but I’ve worked with many kids who have not had instruments, who’ve not had the resources. So I actually teach a lot of lessons for free, just because it’s like, my teacher was very lenient with me during some of these moments, and I very much look at them and I’m like, if you’re hungry, I’m going to feed you, but understand the meals that I’m preparing are not just surface level. I’m trying to teach you how to feed yourself, and as much as I like to attune a lot of what I’ve experienced to my teaching, as in, this is how to schedule, this is what it’s like when you’re tired, how to take care of yourself. I’ve had to be very cognizant of not putting too much pressure on students, because what children, and especially young adults, go through now is, many of them are living a reality that’s very different than my own. Many of them work. Many of them are in multiple classes.

On selecting music for Evening Concert

MOORE: I’m very thematic. I can pick a simple thing, such as nature, which was last week’s show, and the show before that was, or at least, especially when I came in, I’m like, okay, ballet is my first show, because that’s a statement of who I am. I love ballet, favorite type of classical music to listen to. But then the next thing is, all right, it’s September, Spanish Heritage Month. Let’s go. There’s so many great Spanish composers, so many great pieces that highlight Spanish heritage. So I wanted to pick music that did that, that sent that message. And not just orchestral music. I think there’s a great, great repertoire of wind band works, chamber works, choral works, chamber ensembles, intercultural music. … And so I base a lot of my choices on these themes, and I look at the world to see where in the planet has this concept come up. So in my shows, I mention, okay, we’ll be here in Europe, be a little bit in South America, here’s North America, and I’ll be bringing it in and have a theme. But then the next part comes in two segments. It’s, well, many of the pieces I’ve picked out, especially in the wind band and orchestral world, I’ve performed them as a performer. I’m like, oh, now it’s just nice to listen to this again and not think about the feelings involved with learning the repertoire, but just to sit back and also speak on those experiences. This is how I’m connected to this piece, or this is how I know this composer. And then the part of me that wishes I could hear some of these things in programs, like it’s probably highly unlikely we’ll get ‘The Frozen Cathedral’ and Maslanka’s ‘4th Symphony’ on the same program, unless you really want to tire your ensemble out. That’s rare, but to hear them, at least in some form of music, I think that’s exciting.

Catch Moore hosting Evening Concert on HPR-2 on Friday nights, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

This story aired on The Conversation on Oct. 27, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this interview for the web.