There has never been another musician in Hawai'i like Henri Berger. By the time he was 50 in 1894, the Royal Hawaiian Band had given 4,664 concerts under his direction.
That included 1,390 at Emma Square, 906 at 'Iolani Palace before Queen Lili'uokalani and 375 concerts for departing steamers.
Berger was a musical phenomenon. He played every instrument in the band except the piano and the organ.
Royal Hawaiian Band musicians whom he taught were the pioneers of modern Hawaiian music. Berger set the music to the the national anthem, "Hawai'i Pono'i," and started many Hawai'i musical traditions, including music for Boat Day.
When he took his first vacation, a trip back to his native Germany in 1882, the band members loaded him down with lei and serenaded him on the dock. The ali'i requested that they be serenaded likewise. Everybody liked the music so much that the band played for all major steamship arrivals and departures.
Berger was born in Berlin on Aug. 4, 1844, and came to Hawai'i as band master at the request of the king in 1872. He served under four monarchs, the provisional government, the Republic of Hawai'i and the Territory of Hawai'i before he died in 1929.
