"Fiesta! Philip Hii" will be the farewell performance of a former Del Mar College educator who joined the music faculty in September of 1988 to teach future performers and educators of music.
The guitarist and recording artist will be joined on stage by Dr. Abel Ramirez and the DMC Wind Ensemble for the celebratory concert featuring Hii collaboratively playing Concerto for Guitar and Band by Juan A. Perez as well as Intermedio from El Baile de Luis Alonso by Geronimo Gimenez.
The free concert is Thursday, April 18th at 7:30 pm in the Richardson Performance Hall on the Heritage Campus, located at 101 Baldwin Blvd.
Born in Sarawak, the largest state in Malaysia, Hii started playing guitar at age 10. But, after winning a national competition in his home country in 1975, he left for New Zealand to study law.
His studies changed direction after winning the New Zealand National Cup with his talented guitar playing. He earned a bachelor's degree from Victoria University of Wellington and then furthered his studies in England and Germany before moving to the United States in 1983.
In the States, he studied jazz arranging at Berklee College of Music in Boston before getting his Master of Music degree from the renowned University of North Texas.
As a recording artist, Hii recorded several critically-acclaimed albums featuring his transcriptions for guitar of works by classical composers Bach and Chopin as well as his own compositions.
There has been a "virtual card" set up to wish Philip Hii a happy retirement. You can send Hii a note here.
