Randy Wong

Randy Wong is a consummate musician, published author, and respected educator. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, Mr. Wong performs throughout the world in pop, exotica, orchestral, and jazz/world markets. Though trained as a classical double bassist by Todd Seeber at New England Conservatory, Mr. Wong is a formidable improvisor; having toured, recorded, or performed with Brother Ah, Mark Walker, Susan Werner, Mike Dease, Tim Mayer, Zaccai Curtis, Harold Chang, Abe Lagrimas Jr., Don Tiki, Sherry Shaoling, Robert Drasnin, Jon Yamasato, Lopaka Colon, and Sharel Cassity, and having studied with Cecil McBee, Michael Cain, and Keala Kaumeheiwa. Orchestrally, Mr. Wong can be seen most frequently with the Orchestra of Indian Hill, New Hampshire Symphony, and the Nashua Symphony; and on occasion with the Honolulu Symphony, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Miami’s Project Copernicus chamber orchestra, and many others. Equally accomplished as an composer/arranger, band leader, and record producer, Mr. Wong’s music is regularly featured on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, Weekend America, and All Things Considered programs, the Pentagon Channel, and the DoD’s Armed Forces Network. His original compositions for WAITIKI/The Waitiki 7 have garnered awards from the Music Foundation of Hawai’i and a nomination from the Ontario (Canada) Independent Music Awards. In 2007, a Project Copernicus performance of his violin concerto “L’ours Chinois” was ranked #4 in the Palm Beach Post’s Top 10 Classical Music Concerts. Since 2006, Wong has produced records for ukulele magnate Jim Beloff/Flea Market Music, including the Australian best-seller Rare Air and the Hawaii Music Award-winning Paradise Lost & Found. Recent recording projects (as of July, 2010) include chart-topping albums by The WAITIKI 7 (Adventures in Paradise and New Sounds of Exotica) for Waitiki International LLC, acclaimed for their “substantial improvisational firepower” (JAZZIZ) and as “the band to beat” (Nate Chinen). Both albums made history for modern exotica music by charting on the JazzWeek World and Jazz Charts—Adventures in Paradise peaking at #2 and New Sounds of Exotica peaking at #6—and at CMJ Jazz (peaking at #12 and #9, respectively). Mr. Wong is also a nationally-known researcher in the specialized field of Music-In-Education. As Director of Portfolio Assessment and Documentation Services for the Music-in-Education National Consortium, Mr. Wong oversees assessment and documentat