Shows &events
Kona Choral Society celebrates African-American History Month with concert
In recognition of African-American History Month, the Kona Choral Society and Conductor Susan McCreary Duprey present “Guide My Feet: A Celebration of African-American Gospel and Spirituals” this evening in Kailua-Kona.
The choral society will be joined by special guests Binti Bailey on vocals, and Joanne Watanabe, on keyboard, for the concert that takes place from 7 to 8 p.m. at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church.
Admission is free. A “freewill offering” will be taken to offset the costs of the performance.
Info: www.konachoralsociety.org.
De Aguiar performs Saturday during Kohomua Music Series
The Kohomua Music Series at The Ranch continues Saturday with a performance by Micah De Aguiar.
De Aguiar is a singer and songwriter from Kailua-Kona and recent winner of the Richard Hoopii Falsetto Contest on Maui. He also teaches music at Konawaena High School and has released two albums, as well as singles.
A benefit for The Food Basket, Hawaii Island’s lone food bank that serves more than 12,000 residents monthly via its 100 partner agencies, the performance, hosted by ChoiceMART, takes place from 4-6 p.m. at Kealakekua Ranch Center in Captain Cook. Admission to Saturday’s concert is free with the donation of two cans of nonperishable food items for The Food Basket.
Coolers will not be permitted at the outdoor concert, but attendees are welcome to bring chairs and blankets for laying on the grass lawn. Beer, wine and pupus will be available for purchase.
Info: 323-3025.
KVA plans artists reception
The Kailua Village Artists invites the public to their featured artist reception for three member artists from 5 to 7 p.m. today at their gallery in the Kona Marketplace in Kailua-Kona.
The three featured artists honored will be watercolor painter and digital designer, Stefanie Culbertson, porcelain, watercolor and silk painter Betty Gerstner, and oil painter Christal Nylin. Light pupus and refreshments will be served; the event will also feature live music.
Culbertson has a bachelor’s degree in digital design and has been painting in watercolors for more than 26 years. Shee is known for her “Anuenue Series” of vibrant, rainbow watercolor paintings. With her featured painting the “Yellow Hibiscus – Hawaii State Flower,” Culbertson used the “actual” colors of Hawaii’s state flower to highlight its delicate beauty and pay tribute to the state symbol. She painted a little fairy sitting on one of the hibiscus leaves gazing at the warm sunrise and tranquil distant beach, beginning another “beautiful day in paradise.” She surrounded them with a magical forest that also shows the outline of a dragon. Culbertson enjoys adding or hiding components in her paintings that pop up second and third while the viewer really takes in her painting.
Gerstner has been a porcelain artist for more than 37 years. She studied watercolors with some of the better-known watercolor masters on the Big Island. She now divides her time between the two mediums of porcelain and watercolor. Gerstner’s featured silk painting “Magnolia” was inspired by her dwarf magnolia tree. Painting on silk has been Gerstner’s latest exploration of a new medium, after talking classes and stretching herself as an artist. Gerstner’s art studio is at her Captain Cook home, where she teaches her porcelain painting classes.
Nylin a long-time Kona resident paints in oils capturing the beautiful sites of this island, showing a moment in time, creating the feeling and mood in masterfully created oil paintings. She is known for her series of coffee paintings that have been featured as the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival’s annual button and poster, and has won awards at the annual festival. Nylin’s featured oil painting, “Alii Banyan,” portrays one of the famous, gigantic Banyan trees on Alii Drive that are landmarks to Kailua-Kona.
The gallery is open from 9:30 to 5:30 p.m. daily.
Info: 329-6653.
Irminsul Harp celebrates world premiere of musical program
Irminsul Harp will celebrate the world premiere of “O Lemuria: Songs of The Purple Sun,” original music composed by Irminsul Harp performed by Irminsul, Bernice Roberto and Madhavi Infinity at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Kahaluu Beach Park in Kailua-Kona.
“O Lemuria: Songs of The Purple Sun” is a unique music program drawn from meditations via Lemuria consciousness. The collection dwells upon the land of Hawaii as it was in a remote past, Lemuria, part of the lost continent of Mu.
The event will also feature a “LoveFeast” created by Evolution Bakery and Cafe and Ai Pono.
Tickets are $30 and are available at Kiernan Music in Kainaliu and Evolution Cafe and Bakery and Ai Pono in Kailua-Kona. Children younger than age 2 enter free; children ages 2 to 12 are half price.
They can also be purchased online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2811144.
New Riders Edge of the West Purple Grass Jam comes to Big Island
New Riders Edge of the West Purple Grass Jam featuring “All Star Rock &Folk Grass Legends” Buddy Cage, Greg Anton, Jim Lewin and Bill Laymon will perform three shows on the Big Island starting Feb. 17.
The Lazar Bear and Handijam birthday/Valentine’s Day celebration for Buddy Cage with bandmates of New Riders, Jefferson Starship, Big Brother and The Holding Co., Zero, Grateful Dead Family, The Rock Collection with Melvin Seals, Willie Nelson, David Nelson Band, King Fish, Leftover Salmon, Great American Taxi and Edge Of The West kicks off the island tour at 7 p.m. Feb. 17 at the Hawaii Big Game Fishing Clubhouse at Honokohau Harbor with doors opening at 6:30. The show then heads to Honokaa People’s Theatre for a 7 p.m. show on Feb. 18 followed by a 5 p.m. show at Hilo Town Tavern at 5 p.m. on Feb. 19.
Cage has sold more four million records in his 10years with NRPS, but he has also performed on many gold and platinum albums during his distinguished career including “Blood On The Tracks” (Bob Dylan), “The Official Bootleg Tapes” (Dylan) and various releases with Ann Murray. Cage has also recorded with Grateful Dead members, Pappa John Creach, Willie Nelson, Richie Havens and Johnny Cash, among others.
Lewin is a guitarist, songwriter, and producer currently based in Santa Cruz, California. He is stylistically eclectic with deep roots in bluegrass, country, and rock ‘n’ roll, and is known for his skillful playing on both acoustic and electric guitar. His band, “Edge of the West” is appearing regularly with a new record dropping in May. He is also known for his work with some of the most interesting renegade artists in Americana, bluegrass, jam band and country.
Laymon, a renowned and respected musician, bassist, songwriter, producer and educator based in San Francisco is best known for his many years as bassist for the New Riders of the Purple Sage, as well as the David Nelson Band, his credentials also include numerous tours of duty with the world-renowned Jefferson Starship, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Al Jardine (Beach Boys), Kingfish, and Lacy J. Dalton, among others.
Anton is a drummer, composer and co-founding member, with guitarist Steve Kimock of the band Zero. He has performed on numerous recordings and at thousands of concerts worldwide. He began playing drums at age 11. At age 13, his left hand was amputed and using a prosthetic device, he continued playing drums and began performing professionally while in high school. He’s published more than 50 original songs, many of which were co-written with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. He has also composed music for film, TV and theater.
Tickets for all three shows are $25 for general admission and $45 for gold admission, which includes a meet and greet. They are available at Kiernan’s Music in Kainaliu, Kona Music Exchange in Kailua-Kona; Waimea General Store in Waime; Taro Patch Gifts in Honokaa; Hilo Guitars, CD Wizard, Hilo Music Exchange in Hilo and Keaau Natural in Keaau. Tickets can also be purchased by visitng www.lazarbear.com or (808) 896-4845 or (917) 561-4800.
Info: www.lazarbear.com.
Early Music Hawaii offers concert Feb. 19
Singers from around the Big Island will perform music from the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods under the direction of Daniel Mahraun, choir director at the Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, where Early Music Hawaii now presents all of its Kona concerts.
Mahraun, who holds a doctorate in musical arts, is an experienced director, singer and arranger of music for choirs and a former member of The Rose Ensemble, one of the finest early music ensembles in the U.S.
The Feb. 19 program will include music by composers rarely heard in Kona: Antoine Boesset, Giulio Romolo Caccini, Cristofano Malvezzi, Guillaume DuFay, Gilles Binchois and others including Henry VIII. Accompaniment for some pieces will be provided by Katherine Crozier, harpsichord, and Geoffrey Naylor, Garrett Webb and Harry Zola, on recorders.
The concert starts at 3:30 p.m, at the Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity on Lako Street in Kailua-Kona. Tickets are $25 and $10 for students with ID and available at the door or online at www.earlymusichawaii.com.
Info: www.earlymusichawaii.com.
Hawaii Youth Symphony presents free Hawaii Island concert
Hawaii Youth Symphony’s top youth orchestra, Youth Symphony I, will perform a free community concert on Feb. 20 at the William Charles Lunalilo Center at Kamehameha Schools Hawaii in Keanu. The concert begins at 4 p.m. Doors open at 3:30 p.m. No tickets are required to attend.
Each year, Youth Symphony I embarks on its MusicAlive Community Service Tour, which aims to showcase the unique and superb musical talents of Hawaii’s finest young musicians from across the state. These symphonic music concerts have been part of Hawaii Youth Symphony’s service to the community since the early 1980s.
Youth Symphony I is Hawaii Youth Symphony’s most advanced full orchestra, and will showcase 98 high school student musicians, grades 9-12, from 27 public, home, and independent schools across Oahu and Maui. The students were selected through a highly competitive audition process last May.
The orchestra, led by Maestro Henry Miyamura, will perform favorites by Paul Hindemith, Giuseppe Verdi, Neil McKay, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and John Philips Sousa. Oahu-based musicians Stanton Haugen (trumpet) and Jonathan Cabagbag (saxophone) will also perform Chuck Mangione’s “Land of Make Believe,” with the orchestra.
Announcements
APAC holds auditions for ‘The Miracle Worker’
Aloha Performing Arts Company will hold open auditions for volunteer actors for the classic American drama “The Miracle Worker” at 6 p.m. on Feb. 28 and March 1.
Those interested in the roles of Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller should come at 6 p.m. and all others should arrive by 6:30 p.m. Candidates for Helen will be excused early. An invitational callback audition may be held on March 2, also at 6 p.m. All audition sessions will be held at the Aloha Theatre in Kainaliu, where the show will be performed May 5 through 21.
“The Miracle Worker” is by William Gibson, adapted from his 1957 “Playhouse 90” teleplay of the same name. It chronicles a pivotal time in the young Helen Keller’s development. The late Anne Bancroft and the late Patty Duke created the roles of Annie Sullivan and Helen on Broadway in 1960. That production won four Tony Awards, including Best Play. The two stars reunited for the highly acclaimed 1962 film adaptation. Bancroft won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and Patty Duke won for Best Supporting Actress. The play is set in the 1880s in and around the Keller homestead in Tuscumbia, Alabama, and also, briefly, at the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston.
Five male and six female actors are needed for principal roles, as well as six female extras and some offstage voices. Rehearsal for some principal characters will begin immediately, and full cast rehearsals will commence later in March. Rehearsals will generally be conducted Monday through Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons. The complete rehearsal and performance calendar will be posted at auditions.
Jerry Tracy is directing, assisted by Felicity Johnson. Juanita Finkenberg will serve as movement director, Jeannie Kutsunai as the sign language consultant, and producers are Joel Michaelson and Karen Barry.
All roles are available, including: a doctor, an adult of any age; Helen Keller, a young girl, deaf and blind; Kate Keller, Helen’s mother; Captain Keller, Helen’s father; Annie Sullivan, Helen’s young teacher; James Keller, a young man; Anagnos, a school administrator with a Greek accent; Viney, a servant, ideally a person of color; Martha and Percy, a young girl and boy, ideally persons of color; several blind schoolmates of Annie; and several offstage voices.
Info: 322-9924.