Byron Yasui
As a player, composer, and educator, Byron Yasui's accomplishments with the ʻukulele are simply unparalleled. Yasui wowed audiences as part of the ʻUkulele Hall of Fame's ʻUkulele Legends tour and was a featured performer in the Hawaiʻi Public Television special "The Art of Solo Ukulele," which led to a concert tour and CD. Yasui is the only composer to write a large-scale symphonic work for ʻukulele. His Concerto for ʻUkulele and Orchestra, Campanella, was performed by Jake Shimabukuro with the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra. As an educator, Dr. Yasui, Professor of Music Emeritus at the University of Hawaiʻi, has mentored many of today's ʻukulele greats, passing along his expertise in music theory and composition.
Byron Yasui was born in Honolulu in 1940 and began his musical career of seven decades by teaching himself the 'ukulele in the ninth grade, although at the time he didn't consider it a serious instrument. Yasui majored in music at the University of Hawai'i Mānoa, enthralled by the theory and composition courses that other students dreaded. He went on to pursue a doctorate in music, having taught himself bass and classical guitar along the way. He joined the university's music faculty in 1972 and for four decades played with the Honolulu and Hawaii Symphony Orchestras--not just bass and guitar, but mandolin, banjo, samisen and harp, as needed.
In 1998, Yasui signed on for the four-city ʻUkulele Masters tour sponsored by the ʻUkulele Hall of Fame. He wowed audiences with his playing, including his amazing rendition of Starts and Stripes Forever. On the tour, He also played alongside of fellow Hall of Fame Inductee Lyle Ritz. Yasui's skills as a solo 'ukulele player drew further public acclaim when he appeared with Benny Chong, Gordon Mark, Blaine Kano and Jake Shimabukuro in a 2000 Hawai'i public television special, "The Art of Solo Ukulele,". That appearance led to a concert tour and CD and a lasting friendship and musical partnership with Chong.
Yasui, now a professor emeritus of composition and theory, is also a prolific composer and arranger. His 2015 "Concerto for 'Ukulele and Orchestra," one of the few orchestral works for 'ukulele, featured Jake Shimabukuro as soloist. "Yasui has brought the 'ukulele fully into the classical music realm, not as a novelty, but on an equal footing with orchestral instruments," The Honolulu Star-Advertiser wrote after the world premiere in Honolulu.
Yasui has been a cherished part of the ʻukulele community for decades, and his connections to fellow musicians — including long-time friends and collaborators like Benny Chong and the legendary Bill Tapia — speak to a life lived fully in music. His induction into the ʻUkulele Hall of Fame in 2026 is a tribute to a career defined by artistry, generosity, and an unwavering love for the instrument.