Harp Concerts, Harp Festivals, Music, Performances & Events
Sept. 8, 10 am: Queen Lili’uokalani Birthday Festival
Please join me and my flutist, Kathy Dorn, on Saturday, September 8 at 10 am in Lili’uokalani Gardens in downtown Hilo. Kathy and I will be opening the He Hali`a Aloha No Lili`uokalani festival, playing original tunes composed by the last monarch of Hawaii, Queen Lili’uokalani. I will also be playing during the Ho’okipa ceremony, where Hawaiian dignitaries will offer gifts in honor of the Queen.
The annual festival is held on the occasion of the Queen’s birthday, and is a free family fun event all day long. Featuring children’s activities, entertainment, craft and demonstration booths, food trucks, tea ceremony, and mass hula. (I once danced in this festival about 10 years ago. Now I feel incredibly blessed to perform the Queen’s music.)
Monarch and Talented Composer
Like all royals of her day, she received a solid musical education in the Western tradition from the missionaries who arrived on Hawaiian shores. The Queen showed particular talent, and composed more than 300 tunes in her lifetime, many of them while she was under house-arrest in the I’olani Palace.
Kathy and I will be playing old favorites, like “Aloha ‘Oe” and “Sanoe.” And some that haven’t been heard in a 100 years, like a little ode to a water sprinkler, and a love song for the forest of Puna – the place where lava has been recently flowing.
For more information
This event is co-sponsored with County of Hawaii Parks & Recreation Department Culture & Education Division and Lili`uokalani Trust. For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1857406794554886/
“Cymber Lily’s is a lovely gift and I’m grateful for it, like having a moment to appreciate the way the night blooming jasmine smells standing in the dark.”
