Maestro Matt Catingub has experienced the romance of Hawai'i firsthand: He got engaged and married here.

Now he's attempting to project love in paradise through music, with his inaugural "Return to Romance" festival Thursday through March 11, featuring the Matt Catingub Orchestra of Hawaii and a lineup of local, national and international stars.

"Everybody knows that Hawai'i is the most romantic spot, if not one of the centers of love, in the world," he said.

Best known as the conductor of the Honolulu Symphony Pops orchestra, Catingub also is a composer, a pianist, an arranger, a saxophonist, a recording artist and a Grammy nominee.

And now a music-fest impresario.

"We've done one 'Return to Romance' album with nearly 20 of the 100 most favorite love songs," he said the other day, during a rare break from festival preparations. "That means we should be doing at least four more CDs (to complete the cycle) and for sure, the next one is in the works."

Catingub, the son of jazz singer Mavis Rivers, tapped his celebrity friends and colleagues for this first-time event.

He organized the 40-member orchestra bearing his name — half composed of his fellow symphony types, the other half independent musicians or members of the Royal Hawaiian Band — to help play out his dream: to connect the dots between Hawai'i and soul-stirring love songs.

"Many of us can be guilty of forgetting about romance," he said. "The festival is a reminder to folks — and is a wonderful way to get people together — that love is alive, through music, through the arts."

He's invested hours in arranging 60 to 70 songs for the event.

"Like I do for the symphony pops, I'm orchestrating all the music for all the acts — a daunting task, to be sure. But I'm up on this. The idea for the festival wasn't too far off. I mean, about 80 percent of all songs are written about love. We're just connecting it to Hawai'i."

Initially, Catingub envisions a five-year run that would complete the cycle of his orchestra recording the top 100 love songs.

"Once we do this, I want to take the show on the road — get the orchestra to tour and go Mainland," he said.

While the slate of shows may appear intimidating, Catingub said that there's method in the madness.

"I would say that we offer choice; you can pick and choose what to do over an 11-day period," he said. "But the festival's designed as a quadrant: jazz, pop, contemporary Hawaiian and Broadway."

The centerpiece is the three-night stand March 6 through 8 at the Hawai'i Theatre, when such talent as Lucie Arnaz, Robert Cazimero, Rocky Brown and Nina Keali'iwahamana share the limelight. But the one-nighters will bring in heavy hitters such as Patti Austin, Natalie Cole, Michael McDonald and Ruben Studdard at the Waikiki Shell and Blaisdell Arena.

Besides putting his orchestra on the map, Catingub said, there's an unstated goal to give work to musicians in between established gigs. "Can we do this kind of thing, under the umbrella of the Honolulu Symphony? I think not," he said. "It's limited to what we can do. The symphony has roots in classics, so it presents that. The pops thing is not meant to compete with (his new festival); we just want to extend the pops format, of doing a variety of concerts, in a format patterned after some of the biggest festivals abroad — Montreux, New York, for example.

"There are some obstacles to jump over," said Catingub. "Musician availability is an issue; we're lucky to get the core musicians we're using. With great cooperation from the city and the Hawai'i Theatre, we're able to put the puzzle together."

After the "Romance" is pau, Catingub dons his pops gear to conduct for Wynonna Judd, then a concert with a Beatles theme.

"It's all about shifting gears," he said.

The festival enables him to shift moods, too. "When you get a chance to play for Natalie Cole one night and Keal'i Reichel the next night, that's exciting — and exactly what I'm doing."

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.