Ho‘ike A Ha‘i students from Kamehameha Schools Hawaii will appear on an upcoming episode of “From the Top,” the hit NPR radio program featuring America’s best young classical musicians and hosted by acclaimed pianist Christopher O’Riley.
The show will air at 10 a.m. Saturday on KANO 91.1 FM. The national show also can be downloaded as a podcast at www.fromthetop.org.
The episode was taped before a live audience at Lunalilo Concert Hall on the school’s Keeau campus.
KS Hawaii’s Ho‘ike A Ha‘i is an all-school production that tells a story through beautiful and powerful mele (song), oli (chant) and hula (dance).
The first Ho‘ike took place in 2004. Ho‘ike allows KS Hawaii students to showcase their talents in fine art, Hawaiian language, chant, solo and choral singing, dance, instrumental performance and drama.
On the show, the students perform “Ha‘upu,” an original Hawaiian language opera by Herb Mahelona. Also on the broadcast:
• Jairus Joseph-Sioeli Rhoades, a 12-year-old pianist from Mililani, Oahu, performs “Concert Paraphrase on Rigoletto,” after Verdi’s opera, by Franz Liszt and etude in A-flat major, Op. 25, No. 1, by Frédéric Chopin.
• William Suh, a 17-year-old cellist from Honolulu, performs III. Allegro apassionato from Johannes Brahms’ Cello Sonata No. 2, Op. 99.
• Jack Li, a 16-year-old clarinetist from Vancouver, British Columbia, performs III. Rondo: Allegro from Carl Maria von Weber’s Grand Duo concertant.
• Maria Sanderson, a 17-year-old violinist from Brown County, Ind., performs “Summerland” by William Grant Still.
“From the Top” is made possible by support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. It also is supported through the generous contributions of individuals and institutions as well as public radio stations.
