Music of the Christmas season

12 12 2019

Christmas music is getting me into the spirit, and I’d like to share the experiences with you.

• Come early for a seat to hear the 100-voice choir I sing in, the Windward Choral Society, at 4 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 15, at St. John Vianney Church at 920 Keola Drive in Kailua, Oahu.

“For a Breath of  Ecstasy” composed by Michael John Trotta with lyrics by Sara Teasdale will be under the baton of Artistic Director Susan McCreary Duprey and accompanied by Pianist Thomas Yee, Organist Jieun Newland, and other talented instrumentalists from around the island.

Open to the public. Freewill donations accepted.

Other choral works include repertoire from Argentina, Canada, France, Japan, America (to include an early American Shaker tune and a piece in Hebrew), South Africa, and Hawaiʻi.

• This Friday, our granddaughters will perform in the Le Jardin Academy student Christmas programs on campus.

• On Saturday evening, the Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus at Kawaiahaʻo Church in Honolulu is offering up Christmas tunes starting 7 p.m. Admission free.

• Prior to the above evening event, I’ll be helping out the Windward Choral Society at Barnes & Nobel bookstore in a fundraiser for the choir. Just make a purchase and mention WCS to the cashier.

• In a members-and-guests only event, a music program will follow the  Christmas Dinner at Kaneohe Yacht Club. We’re piggybacking on this occasion with another couple to celebrate Darling Husband’s birthday.

• Washington Place, the Governor’s official mansion, has our name on a guest list. So fancy.

• And into the new year is a three-day workshop on Maui led by well-known visiting composer Mark Hayes.

Hauʻoli Makahiki Hou! Happy New Year! Yahoo!

~ Rebekah

 


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Made it through the day

13 04 2019

‘Twas a long day, and we made it.

We’re home now with two granddaughters, two dogs, and a take-and-bake pizza in the oven—too tired to make dinner.
The day out started with a fundraising luncheon event for the Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus at a ballroom in downtown Honolulu. Parents, friends, and supporters kept checking their bids in the online auction while the different sub choirs entertained, and people waited their turn at the buffet line. Some started with dessert!
We left early to arrive late at the artists’ reception for the exhibit of paper collages and ceramics on the windward side of the island 30 minutes away.
I had packed up a basket of cookies for the refreshments table and a bunch of pink ginger to decorate. What a joyous gathering of friends and colleagues!

My friend Joy Ritchey, artist

 

Visitors in front of collage paintings by the late Susan Rogers-Aregger, our mentor

 

More friends: Peg Hoefer, (from left), Dan Rogers-Aregger, and Barbara Guidage

Pete had childcare duty tonight, so our granddaughter Perrin met us at the reception and took in the exhibit until closing. She occupied her time drawing and socializing with the adults. Then we went to fetch her older sister Ayla from a birthday party and get the pizza.

Perrin and her freehand drawing after a Bernadette Chan collage in the background.

We drove home, stopping first to pick up Massimo, their dachshund, so he could have company and play with our dog JJ. A scary movie on TV, baths, pajamas—I for one will call it a day.
~ Rebekah
P.S. – It was also a lucky day. I won the bid at the HYOC auction for a one-year membership for four people at Hawaii Theatre Center and the bid for a stunning turquoise pendant. Grateful!

 


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KINOHI composed by Herb Mahelona

2 05 2018

On April 28, 2018, at Kawaiaha‘o Church, I was a member of combined choirs performing the premiere of the Hawaiian language oratorio entitled KINOHI composed by Herb Mahelona. He wrote the lyrics and music over a 20-year period. I am excited to share the video with you. It is one hour and 40 minutes long. As the composer remarked upon hearing it sung for the first time in its entirety, “It is exactly as I dreamt it!” Please sit back and enjoy!

Worth watching more than once! – Herb Mahelona

https://youtu.be/XmVEAMnxbTs

Mahalo, gratitude, to all involved who made this happen.

~ Rebekah Luke, second alto


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Wonderful experience of opera

28 10 2014

Emalani2

Aloha! Ticket information is now posted for the premiere of Emalani 2 in Honolulu! It is my first-ever, up-close-and-personal experience with opera. This wonderful work in both Hawaiian and English was composed by Herb Mahelona with the Hawaiian chant text from He Lei No ‘Emalani edited by Puakea Nogelmeier.

The opera is about the second half of the life of Hawai‘i’s Queen Emma, her life after the death of her husband Alexander Liholiho (Kamehameha IV) and their son Albert Edward Kauikeaouli. The first part of her life was performed two summers ago in Mahelona’s ‘Emalani. Both operas were commissioned for the Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus.

So, it is a youth opera with the principal characters played and sung by talented young people. By serendipity, I am singing in the chorus. You can see in the flyer above the amount of collaboration and support there is for this event.

My excitement comes from hearing the music itself and singing it, from reading the book (the lyrics) that is biographical, and from the thrill of realizing what a magnificent and delightful short-hand learning tool opera can be. I am enjoying studying Mahelona’s composition skill and how he structured the music. Hooray for ʻōlelo makuahine and the English translations. I am very thankful for the chance to learn from this type of art.

There are rehearsals in music and dance happening all over town right now. ‘Emalani 2 is quite an undertaking. Just one choral practice remains for the group I rehearse with before the combined “tech/dress” in St. Andrews Cathedral on performance day. I heard the cast numbers more than 100, and that the production of 10 scenes will be staged as theater in the round. Can’t wait! Nola A. Nahulu is the artistic director, and Mathias Maas is the stage director.

Here is Queen Emma’s prayer that I like, excerpted from Scene 2:

God give me courage beyond my own to venture on to a path unknown,
Vision beyond my sight to see each step in thy light.
God give me wisdom beyond my years to speak with firmness in spite of fears,
To live for all to see, to leave a legacy,
Fill my heart with love ever true, my race to bless, thy will to do.
God give me patience and clarity to trust in things I cannot see,
that when my work is done, I will see my husband and my son.

(from ‘Emalani by Herb Mahelona)

Copyright 2014 Rebekah Luke

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