Singers were up before dawn to meet the coach to the airport from Benton at 3:00 a.m. so many started the trip with little or no sleep, but there would be plenty of time to sleep on the nearly two hour bus ride and six hour flight to Honolulu. Everything went smoothly. In fact, the wind must have been with us because we arrived about a half hour early.
Krystal’s connections with the hotel paid off. We thought we’d have to store our luggage at the hotel until check in time, but the hotel very quickly got all of our rooms ready and everyone got checked in early and we had about three hours to eat and explore before rehearsal for the choral festival. The Double Tree is very nice and everyone is a fan of their huge, free, “home-baked” cookies.
The most common use of time was the very practical mission to find food and purchase items such as sunscreen and sunglasses, so the nearby Wal-Mart was appreciated. Krystal, a native Hawaiian, led a large group on an excursion to the Ala Moana Mall for her favorite Japanese curry and fresh pineapple soft-serve. The consensus from that group was, “Delicious!” For some, the attraction of the beach overwhelmed the need for food, and several students returned for rehearsal with rosy cheeks and saltwater hair and the first signs of the wonderful Hawaiian sun.
Free time was followed by rehearsal at the historic Kawaiha’o Church, which coincidentally is the family church for relatives of Cole Haole-Valenzuela, senior, and member of the choir. Cole’s uncle was a huge help in coordinating with the church and with arrangements for tomorrow night’s Chamber Choir concert, and we are very appreciative. This beautiful, historic momument is considered the mother church of Hawaii and the “Westminster Abbey” of the islands. In 1820, the first missionaries arrived at Honolulu and found themselves well accepted by the native islanders. King Kamehameha III granted the missionaries land at Kawaiaha’o for the purpose of establishing the kingdom’s first Christian church. Much of Hawaii’s modern history found its beginning on the grounds. The realms kings and queens worshiped there, as did thousands of their subjects. Statehood was marked by ceremonies on the grounds on August 21, 1959. The church is listed on both the State and National Registers of Historic Sites. And it is also the site of the annual Lokahi Choral Festival, a festival for high school choirs, hosted by the Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus.
Rehearsal was followed by a wonderful Bento dinner provided by the festival on the lawn of the church. The concert featured seven individual high school choirs from across the island, with the OSU Chamber Choir as the featured guest, and ended with all of the choirs singing an original piece Imi au ia ‘oe” by HRM Queen Lili’uokalani, arranged and conducted by Dr. Jon Magnussen of the University of Hawaii.
After the concert, we returned by coach to the hotel. For many it was time to retire and catch up on sleep, others explored the city, sought out island food and libations, and some went to the beach for a moonlight swim.
Kudos to Krystal and Cole for all their help! It sounds wonderful. Have some Shave Ice for me, please (with cream). xoxox