A Celebration of AAPI Heritage Month featuring DeShannon Higa

A Pono Project Event

Saturday, May 16, 2026
Starts at 7:30pm
Run time: 90 minutes with no intermission

About the Show

Presented by ProArts Playhouse and Jazz Maui

Featuring Jeff Hellmer on piano, Dave Graber on bass, and Howie Rentzer on drums

Heritage in Motion
Tradition
Transformed

Heritage in Motion is a 90-minute musical journey that explores identity as something living—shaped by roots, refined through experience, and expressed in sound.

The show opens grounded in groove, drawing the audience in with familiar rhythmic language and warmth. From there, the music begins to stretch—blending jazz, soul, funk, and subtle cultural textures that reflect the layered experience of Asian American and Pacific Islander identity. Rather than presenting tradition as something static, each piece reimagines it—transformed through improvisation, arrangement, and collective voice.

Midway through, the energy gives way to space and reflection—a more intimate moment that highlights lyricism, tone, and emotional depth. Here, the idea of “heritage” becomes personal, not just cultural.

The final arc builds with increasing momentum—tight ensemble playing, rhythmic drive, and expressive solos—culminating in a powerful, unified sound that feels both rooted and forward-moving.

Heritage in Motion is not just a performance—it’s a statement:
that culture is not preserved in place, but carried forward, reshaped, and made alive through every note.

Special low pricing made possible through the Pono Project.

About the Artist

DeShannon Higa is a renown jazz trumpet player both in Hawai‘i and New York City. His professional experience spans over 20 years and has performed in famous venues such as Birdland, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Radio City Music Hall. His talents have been heard globally, having performed in Japan, China, Okinawa, Mexico, and Europe. Among his teachers are studio legend Ollie Mitchell, Grammy Award winning jazz trumpet player Brian Lynch, and Harry Connick Jr.’s lead player Roger Ingram. He has also recorded on many albums including Raiatea Helm, Hula Joe & the Hutjumpers (received a Hoku award for best jazz album) and Fiji.
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His credits include such notable artists as Burt Bacharach, Joe Williams, Gladys Knight, Keali‘i Reichel, Wayne Newton, Diana Krall, Donny & Marie Osmond, Al Jarreau, Jake Shimabukuro, The Temptations, The Elvis Presley Band, Dionne Warwick, Matt Catingub, Tower of Power, and Wynton Marsalis, among many others.

DeShannon’s styles of music range from jazz to latin/salsa to modern electronica and hip hop. As a bandleader/visionary, he has assembled and is currently performing with two bands of his own creation: gr00ve.imProV.arTiSts (an urban jazz-electronica dance band) and Quadpod (a neo-bop quartet). He is also a founding member of the jazz group Bop Tribal, who released their debut album in 2008 to rave reviews, including the Hawaii Music Award for best jazz album and a 4 ★★★★ review in the famous Downbeat Magazine.

About the Pono Project

The Pono Project is a series of live arts and culture events celebrating the diversity of the Maui community, promoting inclusion of marginalized persons, and educating on Maui’s history and challenges, bolstered by partnerships with other Maui nonprofits.

The Pono Project is supported in part by the County of Maui’s Office of Economic Development.