Jeff Peterson performing his concerto for slack key guitar and orchestra. Courtesy photo

As a fundraiser for the World Ukulele Program, multi-Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award-winning guitarist Jeff Peterson will collaborate in concert with fellow Maui guitarist Steve Grimes and screen his film “Concerto for Slack Key Guitar and Orchestra – Malama ‘Aina” at the ProArts Playhouse on March 9.

The Olinda-born guitar virtuoso premiered the concerto with the Raleigh Civic Symphony Orchestra in 2016. The first concerto written for slack key guitar and orchestra, it featured three movements inspired by Haleakalā, Kilauea and Mauna Loa. Maui filmmaker Tom Vendetti has adapted film of the concerto adding images from Hawaii’s volcanoes.

“Tom Venditti is such a talented filmmaker,” says Peterson. “He added footage of Haleakalā, Kilauea and Mauna Loa to the film of the performance. He did a great job of integrating the footage into the film.”

Founded by Keola and Moanalani Beamer, the Maui-based Mohala Hou Foundation runs the World Ukulele Program with a mission to help spread aloha around the world by providing free ‘ukuleles to children. The program has so far handed out instruments to kids in Cambodia, Sikkim, and most recently, Bhutan.

“I feel like along with Keola Beamer and Tom Vendetti that music brings people together to celebrate differences,” Peterson says about the program. “It’s all about diversity and beauty regardless of the culture where we travel to with the instruments. We provide students with instruments and they can play the music they love. We just give them a way to express themselves.”

During the Bhutan trip, Peterson and Vendetti hiked to the famous Paro Taktsang Monastery, built in the late 17th century on the site of a cliff cave. “When we first started the hike, it was misty like sometimes you go into a crater and you see the clouds, and then suddenly it parts and you realize we’re looking straight up the cliffs. That amazing outcropping of the monastery up there was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I was so inspired by. I actually carried up an ‘ukulele. I was absolutely crazy. Imagine going up the (Haleakalā) switchback, but twice as tall. I played and did some filming with Tom on top.”

In a Bhutanese, town Peterson worked “with amazing students. They were so excited to have instruments and they learned so fast. It’s very heartwarming and so rewarding for us as teachers. It feels so good to provide that opportunity for the students and that’s what this concert is a fundraiser for. We want to keep going through the Mohala Hou Foundation.

Future trips could include Tibet and Bali. “And I want to do more within Hawaii,” he says. “I do a lot of outreach through the University of Hawaii and the library system and through Music Rising Lahaina.”

Music Rising Lahaina was established to support musicians and cultural artists whose lives were impacted by the devastating fires of 2023.

“I worked on that project with Bob Ezrin, who produced (Pink Floyd’s) ‘The Wall,’ and (U2’s guitarist) The Edge,” says Peterson. “They have supported musicians on Maui and I try to help, connecting them with musicians who had lost instruments and their homes.”

A prolific, versatile artist, Peterson was among the musicians who won a Grammy for the compilation “Slack Key Guitar Volume 2.” It marked the debut of the Hawaiian music Grammy category in 2005. Among his recordings, “Slack Key Jazz,” featured elegant interpretations of compositions by Duke Ellington, Irving Berlin, Dave Brubeck, and George Gershwin. With “Ka Nani O Ki Ho’alu,” he paid tribute to the legendary slack key players who inspired young artists during the Hawaiian cultural renaissance of the 1970s, including Keola Beamer, Ledward Kaapana, Dennis Kamakahi, Cyril Pahinui, and Peter Moon.

A frequent Hōkū winner, he won the 2024 Hawaiian Slack Key Album of the Year award for his Maui tribute, “Paniolo Son.”

“Slack Key Guitar and Orchestra: Malama ‘Aina Film and Concert” is presented on March 9 at 2 p.m. at the ProArts Playhouse. Tickets range from $50 to $35.