{"id":207037,"date":"2024-11-27T15:19:56","date_gmt":"2024-11-28T01:19:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=207037"},"modified":"2024-12-02T08:36:56","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T18:36:56","slug":"uh-orchestra-premieres-kalaupapa-tribute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2024\/11\/27\/uh-orchestra-premieres-kalaupapa-tribute\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr> orchestra to premiere powerful tribute to Kalaupapa\u2019s past"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"music
Joel Neves<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Symphony Orchestra<\/a> (UHSO<\/abbr>) is preparing for an emotionally charged performance on Sunday, December 1, at Kennedy Theatre<\/a>. Led by Joseph Stepec, associate professor of music at UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa, the 55-member orchestra will present a diverse program featuring a conductorless performance of Mozart\u2019s Oboe Concerto, with UH<\/abbr> faculty and internationally acclaimed oboist Alex Hayashi as soloist, and Dvo\u0159\u00e1k\u2019s New World Symphony<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Kalaupapa\"
Settlement in Kalaupapa. (Credit: Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> State Archives)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The highlight of the evening will be Voices of Kalaupapa<\/em>, a deeply personal and moving new composition by Native Hawaiian composer and conductor Joel Neves. Currently a music professor at Michigan Technological University, Neves created the piece to pay tribute to those sent to Kalaupapa after contracting Hansen\u2019s disease (leprosy) in the late 1800s. Among them were his great-great-grandparents: H.W. Mano (Manookalanipō), who arrived in 1890, and Mele Kaina (Nāhiʻōleʻa<\/span>), who went two years earlier as k\u014dkua (caretaker) to support those in need.<\/p>\n

“My piece covers the grief, the anguish, the pain, the isolation of those who were sent to Kalaupapa through no fault of their own,” Neves explained. “You contracted the disease\u2026 it was a life sentence. You would never see your family again.”<\/p>\n

Echoes: Pahu, puniu<\/h2>\n
\"Orchestra
UH<\/abbr> Symphony Orchestra<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To capture the depth of Kalaupapa\u2019s history, Neves incorporates traditional Hawaiian instruments into the orchestra, including the pū (conch shell), pahu (drum), and puniu (knee drum), which will be played by members of the UHSO<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n

“So here we have a direct line to the living composer which is really exciting because not only are we going to be performing his music but we\u2019re going to be working with him from the source directly,” said Stepec.<\/p>\n

Darkness and light <\/h2>\n
\"2
Agnes Neves (Neves\u2019 grandmother) and her father John Kea (son of Mele and Mano, born in Kalaupapa).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the piece reflects the hardships in Kalaupapa, Neves also celebrates the resilience of the community.<\/p>\n

“They adapted as Hawaiians. They lived with aloha and with a sense of joy,” Neves said. They had a Kalaupapa Baseball League, they talked story, they played \u02bbukulele. They married and had families.”<\/p>\n

Neves\u2019 kūpuna (elders) were among those who married and also started an ʻohana<\/span> including children John Kea and Cecilia Keliʻimahiʻai<\/span> Mano.<\/p>\n

Letter of aloha<\/h2>\n

For Neves, this concert is more than music—it\u2019s a personal journey.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s sort of a love letter to my family. The ultimate is bringing the family together to hear\u2026about our kūpuna, our ʻohana<\/span>, our ancestors.”<\/p>\n

Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. concert range from $10 to $15.<\/a><\/p>\n

—By Moanikeʻala<\/span> Nabarro<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UH<\/abbr> Symphony Orchestra will perform, Voices of Kalaupapa, a special composition about the history of leprosy patients taken to the isolated peninsula.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[1471,33,133,9],"class_list":["post-207037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-college-of-arts-languages-and-letters","tag-hawaiian","tag-music","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t