Shows &events
West Hawaii County Band performs
The West Hawaii County Band, under the direction Bernaldo Evangelista, performs at 6:30 p.m. this evening at Hale Halawai.
This concert will include classical music such as Dukas’ “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” made famous in Disney’s groundbreaking movie, “Fantasia,” music from “The Wizard of Oz,” and the Hawaiian favorite Na Lei O Hawaii. The band will also present “Bravura,” a circus march of a style sometimes called a “screamer” because of its fast tempo and intricate rhythms.
This performance is part of the band’s monthly Free Friday Concert Series sponsored by the Hawaii County Parks and Recreation Department and the West Hawaii County Band Friends, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. The next concert is May 19.
The West Hawaii County Band is a community and civic band comprised of approximately 20 musicians from all walks of life. It rehearses weekly and performs regular monthly concerts at Hale Halawai. The repertoire of the band includes march favorites, traditional brass band music, big band tunes and Hawaiian traditional tunes.
Info: www.westhawaiiband.com.
Kahilu Theatre hosts Family Fun Day
Kahilu Theatre will host a free Family Fun Day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in conjunction with Healthy Keiki Fest presented by North Hawaii Community Hospital on Saturday in Waimea.
The Family Fun Day is free and open to the public. The event will be full of family fun and entertainment, inside and surrounding the theater including live performances by students from Kahilu Performing Arts Class and a screening of Disney’s “Moana.” Information about Kahilu Theatre’s summer programs will also be available.
Schedule of events:
9:30 a.m.: Excerpts from 13 the Musical, performed by members of the Kahilu Youth Troupe
10:30 a.m.: Hula performance from the KPAC (Kahilu Performing Arts Classes) Hula class
10:45 a.m.: Singing performance from the KPAC Simply Singing Class
11 a.m.: Excerpts from Dance of the Bees featuring KPAC students from multiple classes
12:30 p.m.: Screening of Disney’s “Moana” in the main theater
Info: www.kahilutheatre.org.
Chamber Orchestra of Kona performs Sunday
Chamber Orchestra of Kona will perform a “March into April” concert at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Sheraton Kona Resort &Spa at Keauhou Bay convention center.
Directed by Michael Cripps, the orchestra will play several marches and pieces including Aaron Copland’s Outdoor Overture and an arrangement of Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite.
General admission is $10 and preferred seating is $20. Children under age 18 are admitted free. Purchase tickets at www.chamberorchestraofkona.com or at the door.
Inaugural ‘The Art of Jazz’ Monday evening in Kona
The Art of Jazz is Monday evening at Gertrude’s Jazz Bar in Kailua-Kona.
The inaugural invitational exhibit will feature artists such as Ed Kayton, Verna Keoho, Hamilton Kellogg, Sure Garrod, Mark Martel, Sid Nakamoto, Joann Heutmaker, Ginger Sandell, Clive Salmon, Kira Kamamalu, Vicki Penny-Rohner, and more.
Curated by Art Director Kira Kamamalu, the Kona Art Scene Exhibition Series event will also features prizes for Best in Show and People’s Choice.
Info: www.gertrudesjazzbar.com.
Henna tattoo art featured at teen party night
For the final North Kohala Library Teen Night of the school year, henna tattoo artist Cynthia Buckles will demonstrate the steps in creating simple and beautiful henna tattoos from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday.
Materials will be provided for participants to practice the art of henna tattoo and Cynthia will give create a small henna tattoo for each participant. Refreshments will be provided.
Info: 889-6655.
Honokaa Jazz Band Ensembles Talent Show Tuesday
Honokaa High School Jazz Band Ensemble Talent Show is Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Honokaa People’s Theatre.
The concert will honor the graduating seniors and include a wide variety of popular music. Led by director Gary Washburn for over 40 years, the school has won an award from the Grammy Foundation. Its Jazz Band tours the state annually for International Jazz Appreciation Month.
Info hpt@honokaapeople.com.
FOLK sponsors children’s poetry workshop
A children’s poetry workshop will be held from 3 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday at the Kailua-Kona Public Library.
Join this workshop to draw out your inner poet, get creative with mixed media, and share your work with other poets. Light refreshments will be served. Program is suitable for ages 7-12. Workshop is limited to the first 20 children. RSVP online or pick up a paper ticket 15 minutes before the workshop begins. Children must be accompanied by a parent or an adult caregiver.
This free program is sponsored by the Friends of the Libraries, Kona.
Info: 327-4327.
Big Island Chocolate Festival April 28-29
The sixth annual Big Island Chocolate Festival will be held April 28-29 at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel in South Kohala.
Presented by the Kona Cacao Association, the festival opens April 28 with an update on bringing cacao to the marketplace, and other informative seminars. Tickets for the three seminars on April 28 are $40. A tour of Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory in Keauhou is $25.
Planned Saturday are several chocolate culinary demonstrations that will lead up to the festival gala from 5-9 p.m. on April 29.
At the gala, attendees will get to taste sweet and savory creations by chefs, chocolatiers, confectioners and beverage purveyors, plus vote for the People’s Choice Awards. Also on tap will be unlimited pours of fine wines and handcrafted ales, chocolate body painting, entertainment and a silent auction. Event proceeds benefit the ACF Kona Kohala Chefs Association, Kona Dance and Performing Arts, Kona Pacific Public Charter School and Waimea Country School’s Na Keiki Aloha Aina.
Tickets for the gala are $109, in addition to fees; an all-day pass for demonstrations and the gala on April 29 is $135, plus fees. The demonstrations are $35 each or $75 for all.
Info: www.bigislandchocolatefestival.com.
‘Art and Sol’ annual benefit April 29
Art and Sol will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. April 29 at Kahilu Theatre Galleries.
A “Very Nice Person” reception will precede the event from 1:30 to 2 p.m.
“Art and Sol” is the largest fundraiser of the year to support Malaai Garden at Waimea Middle School. Each year, all 250 students and more 1,200 community members learn together in this 1-acre organic garden, sharing lessons of teamwork, paahana (hard work), self reliance, systems in nature, and making good choices for healthy, meaningful lives.
Tickets are $50 for pupu paired with wines; $100 for VNP tickets, $50 of which is a direct donation. A silent auction is planned. Art pieces include a heirloom custom koa piece by Raiatea Woodworks, kapa made by Roen Hufford, handmade jewelry, baskets of Waimea-fresh produce, one-of-a-kind experiences and chef dinners.
Info: www.malaai.org, alethea@malaai.org.
May Day is Lei Day at VAC
Volcano Art Center will celebrate May Day, which is Monday, May 1, with a variety of activities, including hands-on demonstrations.
May Day honors the unique way that Hawaii’s multicultural traditions are woven together to create a more interesting, more tolerant and more beautiful community. With hundreds of fragrant blossoms and plant materials provided by the Volcano Art Center Gallery, learn tips to sewing the perfect lei, the proper protocol of giving and receiving a lei and more.
From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the gallery will be featuring hands on lei making demonstrations with master lei makers Randy Lee, Kaipo AhChong and Dana Castro.
There will also be live music by Wes Awana and friends, and impromptu hula dancing by Noe Noe Kekaualua.
Awana, a Volcano resident, is a popular local musician and ukelele teacher who will share his love of Hawaiian music. One of Hawaii’s finest hula dancers, Kekaualua, was born and raised in Hilo, and has a love and passion for Hawaiian culture that has taken her around the world. She began studying the art of hula at age 4 and has been engaged in this art ever since.
Lee uses a variety of natural materials to fashion lei from the freshest fern, leaves and flowers that he gathers from the rain forests of Panaewa. Practitioner Dana Castro creates meticulous lei and adornments, and lets his work speak for itself. Tropical agriculture farmer AhChong will also share his expert lei-making skills. As a member of Halau Na Kamalei, his unique experience marries the science of agriculture with Hawaiian lei and hula traditions.
This free event at the VAC Gallery in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is supported in part by a grant from the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the County of Hawaii, and individual funding from members of the Volcano Art Center’s Ohana. National Park entrance fees may apply.
Info: www.volcanoartcenter.org.
Call for entry
Tiffany’s Art Agency seeks kitchen-related works
Tiffany’s Art Agency is accepting submissions from Hawaii Island artists working in clay, fiber, glass, metal, mixed media and wood for handmade and functional kitchen-related works.
Dishes and service-ware, cooking utensils, cutlery, cups, glasses, napkins, bowls, etc., are being sought and artists are encouraged to think about designs they’d like to receive commissions for and are willing to make in multiples.
Artists should submit high quality images to tiffany@tiffanysartagency.com by May 20.
Artists will be notified via email if they are accepted. Accepted artists will be asked to produce works for the gallery in Hawi on an ongoing basis, as well as select pieces for Tiffany’s Art Agency’s Handmade Show at Chef Fest. Chef Fest is a celebration of high-profile dinners, interactive cooking classes, and culinary and wine experiences at the Four Seasons Resort, Hualalai, from Oct. 4 to 8.
Info: tiffany@tiffanysartagency.com.
Film screenings
Movies Under the Stars Saturday in Waikoloa
Queens’ MarketPlace will host its monthly Movies Under the Stars on Saturday with a showing of “Moana.”
Attendees should bring a beach chair or blanket for the free outdoor movie that gets underway at dusk, about 6:45 p.m., at the Coronation Pavilion.
In Ancient Polynesia, when a terrible curse incurred by the Demigod Maui reaches an impetuous Chieftain’s daughter’s island, Moana answers the Ocean’s call to seek out the Demigod to set things right.
Info: www.queensmarketplace.net.
‘Storks’ to be screened in Naalehu
Naalehu Public Library screens an afternoon family movie at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
The library shows a different family-friendly movie each week at no cost. Tuesday, the library will screen “Storks,” released in 2016. Free popcorn will be served, while supplies last.
Info: 939-2442.
‘Roots of Ulu’ to be shown
The documentary “The Roots of Ulu” will be screened during Earth Day festivities at Maona Market on Saturday.
“Roots of Ulu” follows the mythological origins of ulu, its journey from Tahiti to Hawaii on Polynesian voyaging canoes, and modern efforts to revitalize breadfruit as a possible solution to food shortages.
The film will be screened at 6 p.m. at Maona Market at 84-5097 Keala O Keawe Road, just above the Honaunau Rodeo Grounds. It will follow a 5 p.m. presentation by Noa Lincoln of the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources on sustainable ulu production.
The 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. event will also feature food, plants, fresh local produce, local handmade arts, crafts, jewelry, raffles, and live music.
Classes &workshops
‘Hula Pele’ workshop series offered
Volcano Art Center invites the public to a unique hula workshop series “Hula Pele” during May in Volcano Village.
In celebration of Hilo’s annual Merrie Monarch festival, Kumu Ab Valencia offers the workshop from 4 to 5 p.m. on May 2, 9, 16 and 23 at the center’s Niaulani Campus.
Valencia will teach a hula Pele that pays homage to Pelehonuamea and her home at Kilauea. Learn basic hula steps and hand motions that tell the story of Pele. In this workshop, participants will learn appropriate costuming and how to make naa lei wehiwehi hula (hula adornments).
On the last day of class the haumana (students) will make a traditional hula presentation to Pele at her home at Kilauea.
Cost for this four-session workshop is $200 and includes all plant materials for hula adornments. No prior hula experience is necessary. All classes meet at Volcano Art Center Niaulani Campus in Volcano Village.
Valencia was born and raised in Honolulu and began dancing hula in 1979. In 2004, he and his wife, Pua, moved from Honolulu to Volcano where Halau Hula Kalehuakiekieikaiu ma Kilauea began in March 2006. He currently teaches hula in Volcano and continues to share traditional cultural knowledge with the community.
Info/register: 967-8222, www.volcanoartcenter.org.
Correction
An A&E Wrap-Up brief in the April 14 edition of the Big Island Entertainment Scene omitted information. Geechy Guy will perform an after-dinner show at 9:15 p.m. on Saturday, April 22, and a pre-dinner show at 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 23, at Jackie Rey’s Ohana Grill in Kailua-Kona.
It is the policy of West Hawaii Today to correct promptly any incorrect or misleading information when it is brought to the attention of the newspaper. ■