Haku Keiki debuts first full feature album
Grammy-nominated producer, singer, songwriter and founder/president of Haku Collective Kimie Miner this week announced the release of Haku Keiki’s first full feature album, “Children of the Sea (Na Kama Kai)” featuring a new single with Paula Fuga and Taimane called “Holo Ka Waa.”
The 11-track album, which is being released today, celebrates the mission of Oahu nonprofit Na Kama Kai, which is committed to empowering keiki to embrace a deeper sense of aloha and personal understanding of their kuleana for Hawaii’s natural environment.
Haku Keiki is a brand-new collection of young Hawaiian artists under the Haku Records label. The group features talents of Hawaii’s keiki singing and playing instruments, including the iconic steel guitar. The album “Children of the Sea (Na Kama Kai)” features mentees from both Haku Collective’s Melecraft songwriting workshops and Na Kama Kai’s Alakai Program.
The writing process began in July, amid the COVID-19 global pandemic, where mentees met virtually through via the collective’s workshops. Each mentee brought a different ike to the virtual drawing board. The Alakai Program provided first-hand knowledge about ocean safety, as learned at the Na Kama Kai clinics. Haku Collective mentees brought their musical talents and transformed the moolelo into songs.
Each of the keiki worked together in rotating small groups to discuss each of the five Na Kama Kai educational pillars: wayfinding and cultural acknowledgement, ocean safety, mentorship, ahupuaʻa/connection of the mountain to the sea, and stewardship and Papahanaumokuakea. A song was written around each pillar and shared back to the larger group at the end of each smaller session. A new group would then touch on the song of the previous group and add or tweak the song’s composition from melody, lyrics, to chords.
Oda announces
book signing event
Join famed local fine artist Mayumi Oda, for signing of her autobiography, “Sarasvati’s Gift,” on Dec. 12 in Kailua-Kona.
From 2 to 5 p.m., Oda will be at One Aloha Shave Ice on Kuakini HIghway. The event will also feature art and live music. Saturday December 12 from 2pm to 5pm. Books, art, live music.
Author Nathan Hale to discuss ‘Blades
of Freedom’
Join Nathan Hale, the author and illustrator of the Eisner-nominated, New York Times bestselling graphic novel series on American history, “Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales” during a virtual author talk Dec. on Dec. 14.
His latest title in the series is “Blades of Freedom,” an illustrated tale of Haiti, Napoleon, and the Louisiana Purchase. This free online event, which will run from 3 to 3:45 p.m., is recommended for children in grades three to seven. Registration is required. To register, visit bit.ly/nathanhalehi.
Ballet Hawaii,
Hawaii Symphony Orchestra present ‘The Nutcracker’
Ballet Hawaii’s The Nutcracker with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra will be presened in a made-for-television format Dec. 19.
A long-standing, cherished tradition, The Nutcracker brings together two of Hawaii’s premier cultural organizations to present Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet uniquely set in Hawaii in a made-for-television event at 7 p.m. on KITV 4. Rebroadcasts of the event, which is sponsored by Hawaii Public Radio and other businesses, will air at 7 p.m. Dec. 25 and 3:30 p.m. Dec. 26.
With choreography by Septime Webre, The Nutcracker is set in the 1858 Kingdom of Hawaii. A cast of more than 175 performers includes New York City Ballet’s prima ballerina Megan Fairchild and Joaquin DeLuz, Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancers Lesley Rausch, Lucien Postlewaite, and well-known Carolina Ballet principal dancers Margaret Severin-Hansen and Richard Krusch.
The broadcast incorporates performances by the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra at the Hawaii Theatre Center from this year, live action shots of cast members attending the first Christmas party in Hawaii, narration by Amanda Schull, and previously recorded footage of Ballet Hawaii’s productions of The Nutcracker.
“Everyone involved with the Ballet and the Symphony felt compelled to preserve the annual holiday tradition of The Nutcracker,” said Susan Schull, chairwoman of Ballet Hawaii Board of Directors. “With performing before a live audience impossible, we came up with a creative way to reach even more people.”
