UHMC Hoʻolauleʻa with Maui Nā Hōkū Hanohano Winners and Nominees

Students of UH Maui College Institute of Hawaiian Music. PC: UHMC

For the first time, Maui entries and nominees for the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards will be featured in an all-day, free hoʻolauleʻa on Saturday, April 28, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Great Lawn of the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College.

The hoʻolauleʻa will include performances by the students of the Institute of Hawaiian Music, Pono Murray, Matagi, Ahumanu, Grammy and Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award winner George Kahumoku and Anthony Pfluke, Mondokāne, Halemanu Villarimo and Tarvin Makia, Cane Fire, Melinda Carrol with Lehua Simon, Mikeala Bega and Bentley Kalaway, Pat Simmons, Jr., Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award winners Kanekoa, Damien Paiva and Goldawn Won.

More than half of the performers are also finalists for a Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award this year. Winners will be announced at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center on May 19.

In addition to the live performances, IHM will host three workshops.

The first workshop will feature IHM director and Hawaiʻi Academy of Recording Arts governor Keola Donaghy, who will discuss both the Grammy and Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards, the benefits of membership in both organizations and how to enter music releases into the awards.

The second will feature multiple Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award-winning songwriter, producer, performer and engineer Kenneth Makuakāne, who will discuss songwriting, and guide participants through writing their own song.

In the third workshop, participants will learn how to create pūniu—a coconut shell drum used in hula. The workshop will be conducted by Kaponoʻai Molitau. There is a $10 fee for each workshop and a $50 material fee for the pūniu-making workshop.

The hoʻolauleʻa will have food and drinks available for purchase. Parking and entrance to the event are free. For more information or to reserve a seat in one of the workshops, contact Keola Donaghy at donaghy@hawaii.edu or (808) 984-3570.