In 1956, the Hilo Womanʼs Club, which had an active arts program, decided to establish a concert society committee. The following year the newly formed committee presented a concert by the Honolulu Little Symphony and became an independent organization, the Hawai`i Concert Society. Initially the Society concentrated only on bringing the Little Symphony to Hilo. In 1961-62, however, the organization presented three concerts: Eva Likova, soprano; Fou Tsong, piano, and the Little Symphony. That constituted the Hawai`i Concert Societyʼs first season of concerts.
 
Concerts were few in number in the early seasons and occasionally seasons were entirely skipped. Many concerts were presented at Hilo High School. Concerts were also held in local hotel banquet rooms and at the Palace Theater. However, interest in classical music existed elsewhere on the Big Island, and within a few years and prior to the opening of the Kahilu Theatre in Waimea and the founding of the Kaʼu Concert Society, the Hawai`i Concert Society presented concerts in Waimea, Kaʼu, Honokaa, and even Kona. After the new organizations formed, all Society presentations again took place in Hilo.
 
The early members of the Concert Society recognized the need for a better concert hall in Hilo and actively encouraged the University of Hawai`i at Hilo to build such a facility on campus. When the U.H.H. Theatre (now the Performing Arts Center) opened in 1972, presentations moved to that location and have remained there except in a very few instances when the facility was unavailable.
 
In 1963, the Hawai`i Concert Society, in conjunction with UH Hilo, purchased a Steinway concert grand piano from Thayer Piano Company in Honolulu for $8,200. The purchase was made possible by a special donation from Laura Kennedy and additional donations from several Society members, Society operating funds, and a generous donation from Thayer. The piano was intended for the combined use of the Society and the UH Hilo Performing Arts Department. Before the Performing Arts Center was built the piano was housed in the old Hilo College Auditorium. In 2007 the University purchased a new Steinway concert grand. The Concert Society donated its share of the old piano to the University and paid for the construction of a climate-controlled storage room for the new one. In return it is granted perpetual access to the new piano for its concerts.
 
In June of 1972 the Hawai`i Concert Society was incorporated as a non-profit organization. Since then there has been an elected Board of Directors and committee chairpersons, all of whom volunteer their personal time and energy to the operation of the organization.
 
Through the generosity of its membership and the efforts of its all-volunteer board, the Hawai`i Concert Society has presented annual seasons of concerts for many decades. Well-known soloists who have performed in its seasons are pianists Philippe Entremont, Robert Taub, and Stephen Hough, guitarists Christopher Parkening, Sharon Isbin, William Kanengiser, and Ana Vidovic, and violinists Tessa Lark and very recently Midori.  The Society also has presented such notable chamber ensembles as the Juilliard, Tokyo, Prazak and Kronos String Quartets; Trio con Brio and the Borromeo, Amadeus, and Eroica Trios; baroque ensembles such as Baltimore Consort, Interpreti Veneziani, and Tempesta di Mare; and the Canadian, Annapolis, and American Brass Quintets. Well-known ballet companies such as the Eliot Feld Ballet, the Los Angeles Chamber Ballet, Smuin Ballet, Ballet Jazz de Montreal, Giordano Dance Chicago, and Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, and famed vocal groups such as Chanticleer, Anonymous Four, and the Vienna Choir Boys have graced the Hilo stage. The Society continues to feature our stateʼs best chamber musicians, dancers, and singers by presenting concerts by Chamber Music Hawai`i, Onium Ballet Project, and Hawai`i Opera Theatre. In addition, the Society has occasionally gone out on a limb to present artists outside the mainstream of its mandate; for example, Scotlandʼs Battlefield Band, the Billy Taylor Trio, Ballet Folklorico de Veracruz, and Noche Flamenca, and in the coming 24-25 season Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana. Many of these artists not only perform for us, but also, via educational programs in our schools and master classes for our budding musicians and dancers, directly reach out to our youth.
 
Over its many seasons the Hawai`i Concert Society has grown into a viable, creative, and flexible organization providing East Hawai`i and beyond with the finest music and dance programs from our country and abroad. Our small organization continues to give our community the kinds of live artistic experiences that those in most communities of our size do not have. We of the present board thank the founders, previous board members, past and present members and concert sponsors, and all who attend our presentations for helping to have made that possible. With all of your support, HCS will continue to thrive!