Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 3, 1 March 2004 — Alma mater honors music arranger Leila Hohu Kīʻaha [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Alma mater honors music arranger Leila Hohu Kīʻaha

By Manu Boyd £ f | ^he Musical Contributions of Eeila Hohu Kī'aha" is the theme for the 82nd A. annual Kamehameha Schools Song Contest, an inter-class choral competition for all high school students attending the Kapālama campus. For the first time, Kamehameha honors a musical arranger - a graduate of the class of 1944 - who continues to create arrangements fortifying the schools' voluminous musical repertoire. Eeila Hohu Kī'aha, known as "Aunty Eeila" to just about everyone, is a Kamehameha mainstay, known for her attention to detail, sometimes gruff approach and no-nonsense teaching style. As an arranger, music teacher, judge, critic, whatever, Kī'aha has helped shape this Hawaiian musical tradition since she graduated from the Kamehameha School for Girls 60 years ago. She is the daughter of classical Hawaiian arranger/director/musician Martha Poepoe Hohu,

who also lives with the family at their home in Pu'unui, Nu'uanu, near where young Eeila Hohu / grew up. / "I entered Kamehameha in m eighth grade. Before that, I was /1 at the academy (Sacred Hearts / Academy) where I learned / piano," said Kī'aha. "I grew /

up with my grandpa, Rev. Henry Poepoe, kahu of Kaumakapili Church. He had perfect pitch. After school, grandpa would play hymns on the 'ukulele and I would follow on piano. We would

go to churches in Kailua, Wai'anae,

Hau'ula, Kāne'ohe - all over - and sing Hawaiian hymns. Speaking Hawaiian wasn't allowed in the home, but we sang Hawaiian," she said. Eueia Poepoe Davis, another Henry Poepoe

mo'opuna, reflected on her cousin. » — "From the time I was

7 a child, Eeila could ' get me to sing. Eaeh Christmas, we'd go to the Atherton House, the Marks estate and elsewhere, and Eeila always got the family together to sing. I knew back then she had a wealth of knowledge. She has natural musical talent. When she arranges an the beach at Moloka'i,

3SS. all tour parts eome to her head and she writes it out with

no piano. I love Eeila. She's exciting. I trust her talent and knowledge," Davis See KĪ'AHA on page 10

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KĪ'AHA from page 9 said. On the subject of Moloka'i, Kī'aha's eyes light up with a smile. "When our kids were small, we'd take the weekend off and go to Moloka'i," she said. "It was $7 round trip! No telephones, no traffic. We'd go to Hotel Moloka'i to relax, fish and enjoy. I'd arrange my music there. I don't use a piano. I use my head. Later, I'd eheek the arrangements on the piano and make a few corrections," she said. "When I arrange, you know me, I maintain the melody. 'Where's the melody?' I ask. I think of the composer. How did he want it? I don't change it," she insisted.

"My first was an SSAA (female chorus of lst and 2nd soprano, lst and 2nd alto) arrangement of 'Pā'au'au I love that song, and arranged it with the help of Bob Nelson. My favorite arrangement - so far - is 'Ku'u Lei Lehua ,' by Charles E. King, but you need the right singers to do that one. It's difficult." "The Song Contest provides for the joy of singing music correctly in the Hawaiian way. We are fortunate to have the works of Charles E. King and Grandma Beamer (Helen Desha Beamer)," she said, intimately familiar with both. "When I play her songs, like 'Lei Ka'ahumanu' and ' Kawohikūkapul ani,' I still think of her. Oh, she was wonderful." At 7 p.m. on Fri., March 19, at the Neil

Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Kī'aha will bear witness to her life's work, through the voices of young Hawaiians. No matter who wins the boy's eup, girl's eup or co-ed trophy, it will be a masterful arrangement by Aunty Leila. "I'm really happy that she's here to witness this honor," said entertainer Robert Cazimero, a student of Kī'aha's while at Kamehameha and a fellow Kamehameha arranger. "Her style of teaching and her way of getting things across may seem to some as blatant or rude - but it is always supported with caring and love. She is an inspiration. She has been an inspiration to me and I hope she will be the same for the kids at Kamehameha today and tomorrow." ■