Kumukahi Ukulele Hula Festivalã¢âå½hawaiian Arts Crafts Festival
A celebration of both Hawaiian ukulele music and hula, Kumakahi featured dancers from Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada.
By Audrey Coleman
How many ukulele events that you've attended take opened with a solemn dirge in Hawaiian followed past a ceremonial hula performed to a pahu drum? And how many uke instructors do you know that receive the Hawaiian honorific kumu ukulele?
For the Kumukahi Ukulele and Hula Festival, held annually in Las Vegas, these are traditions. On August eleven and 12, six ukulele groups and 13 hula halau competed in a gathering established five years ago by kumu hula Sissy Kaio and her husband, ukulele kumu Lincoln Kaio. Their prestigious Hula Halau `O Lilinoe ame Na Pua me Kealoha is located in Carson, California.
Mel Ogata (center right) is kumu ukulele of the four-fourth dimension Kumakahi contest winner Aloha Picking Ohana.
While ensembles from all over the mainland and Hawaii may compete, this year all the ukulele contestants were based in Southern California (Huntington Embankment, Irvine, Long Beach, Los Angeles (2), and Ventura). By contrast, the hula halau came from California, Nevada, Arizona, and Hawaii.
On Sat morning several hundred Hawaiians and "Hawaiians at heart" entered the theater in Sam'southward Town Hotel and Casino to the musical welcome of Lincoln Kaio's ukulele group, ULU. This was my quaternary ULU functioning at Kumukahi. I always relish strumming traditional Hawaiian songs along with the country-western classics our kumu ukulele throws in for variety. Our kumu ukulele, who grew upward in Laie on Oahu'south North Shore—domicile of the original hukilau, he is quick to betoken out—radiates aloha and shares his infectious humor at public events and in class.
Festival founder kumu hula Sissy Kaio and kumu ukulele shared master of ceremonies duties, oftentimes injecting lively banter into an otherwise intense weekend of performances.
Afterwards the invocation, Sissy Kaio introduced the nineteen kumu and presented each with a mahogany concert ukulele, donated by Long Beach-based Ohana Music, a major effect sponsor.
For Kumukahi 2017, the required uke piece was "Ka Uluwehi o Ke Kai" ("The Plants of the Sea") a sprightly mele (Hawaiian song) by Edith Kanaka'ole. Contestants appeared to enjoy playing it. Two additional pieces, selected by the Kumu ukulele, showcased group talents.
Betwixt hula and ukulele performances, Uncle Lincoln, who served every bit co-primary of ceremonies with Aunty Sister, entertained the audience with spontaneous jokes and stories in Hawaiian pidgin.
In the final hour of the effect, before awards were announced, 4-time Kumukahi winner, Aloha Picking Hana (not competing this twelvemonth) played 3 selections. For 2 invigorating and challenging years, I have been learning fingerpicking from AOP's kumu ukulele, Maui-born Mel Ogata. This is barely a beginning compared to the six-plus years most of AOP students have logged in his Los Angeles-expanse classes. This year for the starting time fourth dimension, our kumu served as contest judge, along with Honolulu-based musician Aaron Sala.
Drum whorl! This year the award (Kumukahi has no 2nd or tertiary places) went to Kula A'o 'Ukulele 'O Hokulani of Long Beach, California, under the direction of Hokulani Bray. A likely gene in the group'southward win was its performance of kumu ukulele Bray's emotion-filled composition, "Raindrops and Waterfalls," which speaks of all the h2o sources in Hana, Maui.
Kula A'o 'Ukulele 'O Hokulani of Long Beach, California, shown with kumu ukulele Hokulani Bray, won the Group Ukulele Award in the recent Kumakahi competition. Additionally, they garnered the Hawaiian Language Laurels for the correct pronunciation and fluid delivery displayed in their singing.
Could this festival tempt your ukulele group? To participate, y'all don't need to have a repertoire to limited to Hawaiian songs. Y'all practise need to be willing to steep yourselves in one or more Hawaiian mele for a portion of your time together. As for competing, each year Aunty Sis reminds attendees in the theater at Sam'due south Town, Las Vegas: Kumukahi is, above all, a gathering that honors Hawaiian music, dance, and cultural roots. In an uplifting temper, it is also an opportunity to share what we have learned.
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Source: https://ukulelemagazine.com/stories/news/ukulele-and-hula-competition-lights-up-las-vegas
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