May 2, 2012
Throughout the cold winter months middle school students began learning about Hawaii and some of the traditional music that one might encounter on the islands. I have always had a soft spot for Hawaii, as I started visiting my aunt and uncle on the island of O’ahu when I was in junior high. As a junior in college I had the opportunity to teach on both O’ahu and the Big Island of Hawai’i through a J-Term class. Throughout my numerous visits to the state, and being able to teach some of the local students, I fell in love with the islands.
At the end of last year Ms. Wentzel came to the music department with a local grant and suggested that we have the Rose Ensemble share part of their Hawaiian educational residency in our school. We were so excited to be able to include all of the middle school students in this experience. We began working on our Hawaiian music in January, when we could only imagine the smell of tropical plants and flowers in the air and the warm sunshine on our face.
On April 19th and 20th the middle school choirs had the opportunity to work with a member of the Rose Ensemble, Kim Sueoka. She is originally from the island of Kauai and came to Mounds Park Academy to work with our students on their music in preparation for our concert. She worked with students on correct pronunciation and phrasing. Kim also worked with the students to help them understand the meaning and importance of the music they are singing to the Hawaiian culture in order to correctly portray this in their singing. The students really enjoyed getting to work with Kim and they have taken on the challenge of showing the respect and importance of the Hawaiian culture.
We are looking forward to our Hawaiian themed concert that will take place on Thursday, May 3rd in the Nicholson Center at 7:00PM. The students will be performing a traditional Hawaiian warrior chant, the Hawaiian national anthem, hula dancing and much more! We hope that you will be able to join us on Thursday night.
Leah Abbe Bloem
Lower and Middle School Music Teacher
