Music Ministry
Music Ministry
Lokomaika'i
'Aha Hïmeni Songfest 
** You'll need to have an Hawaiian Font in your system to
read the diacriticals correctly.
The Lokomaika'i 'Aha Hïmeni Songfest is a project
of H.A.L.I.A. (Hawaiian Arts & Liturgical Inculturation Awareness) for
more information call Margaret Peters 261-3410 or Darlene Ah Yo 735-0259
Seventeenth ANNUAL LOKOMAIKA'I 'AHA HÏMENI SONGFEST:
14 October, 2011, Friday 7:00 p.m. at St. Theresa Co-Cathedral,
Honolulu
(Pälama) 712 N. School. St. Honolulu HI 96817 ph
521-1700
Free admission. No catered meal this year - light refreshments only,
donations welcomed
Enjoy an evening of
Hawaiian-style church music by several Oahu parish choirs.
This event encourages and promotes the use of Hawaiian music,
language, and hula in our church celebrations.
These celebrations feature some newly-introduced compositions and arrangements
of Hawaiian Sacred Music. Thanks very much to the 'Aha Hïmeni Committee
and the St. John Vianney community and staff, and all the participating choirs and their directors
and composers for their generosity of time, talent, and treasure. All in
all, this will be an incredible night to remember, where even the smallest of
choirs receives the largest of accolades! Spread the word.....the 'Aha Hïmeni
has to be one of the best highlights of Hawaiian Inculturation and choral
musicianship!
All-Group Songs 2011 click to play / listen
Now Gathered Here (Moani Ke 'Ala O Nä Pua Makahikina
(Machado) Please learn the parts :-)
Psalm
67
"Let The Peoples of the Earth Exult" (Leole'a) (Mondoy)
Sing All God's Creation
[Ahe Lau Makani/Mondoy] Please learn the parts :-)
Music Packet of the above, most up-to-date
Pü
Ho'okani, Oli, Now Gathered Here Kepa
Stern, Herbert "Kama" Yim, Group Song
Malama Pono (Camacho)
St. Ann Choir
Joe K. Camacho has been composing
Hawaiian religious compositions for nearly 3 decades now, and besides writing an
annual theme song for the BI-LAC Liturgical Conference, of late sponsored by
Chaminade University, does find moments to write expressively of the spiritual
dynamic that tugs at his minds and heart. In a recent conversation with us, Joe
mentions that in the Fall of 2008 his Aunt called all the family together as his
mother was at her deathbed. A long evening of family discussions for funeral
preparations exhausted the weary traveler from Volcano, Hawai'i, and he chose
not to turn on the cell phone when he got up early the next morning. A melody
was being shaped in his heart and head, and after he completed it, was informed
that mama had died peacefully that very hour. A few months later, the text was
completed, an exhortation that that same early morning dawn declared, "Mälama
pono kekahi i kekahi"; Take care of one another, and live always by lovingly
caring for one another, and God's peace will most certainly be with you through
all times sorrowful and joyful.
Iesü Me Ke Kanaka
Waiwai (Almeida) St. Anthony Choir
Johnny Kamealoha Almeida, who was born in 1897 and died in
1985 lived a life rich in music despite being blind. He was very popular and was
very much a lady's man. Hawai'ï's famed composer wrote some of the fetchiest
jazz and swing tunes in the Hawaiian musical repertoire, and his skill at guitar
and mandolin enhanced numerous 45 and 78 rpm records...for you youngsters, the
prevalent music media before the digital age made our phonographs obsolete.
Despite the secular playful suggestiveness in songs, he popularized "Iesü Me Ke
Kanaka Waiwai" in some his first recordings in the 1950's, a religious hymn that
quite ironically provided a sobering contrast. One could suppose that each one
of us, for all the shortcomings in our lives' comings and goings, still yearns
for the companionship of Jesus and seek him out, as did the rich young man in
this song. The question is also posed to us: Are we willing to let go everything
and follow the Lord of love?
Pule I Ka Lei/Pray A
Lei (Scrbacic) Co-Cathedral Choir St. Theresa
The composer of the "Pule I Ka Lei," Jim Scrbacic, and his
wife, joined the community of St. Theresa a few years ago. About 19 years ago he
began work on the thought of "praying a lei" in gratitude for all of God's
blessings and bounty. He shared his work with Bernie Gora when he joined the
choir, and was subsequently encouraged to complete his prayerful and musical
endeavor. In "praying a lei" to the Trinity, the text continues to thank God for
the islands' beauty, its rainbows and flowers, its majestic mountains that
seemed to Jim like praying, upraised hands. A moment of musical thanks to a
gracious God that inspires us to "Pule I ka Lei,"... to pray a Lei.
He Touched
Me/He Aloha O Iesü (Gaither) St. Joseph Choir
Bill Gaither grew up on a farm in Alexandria, Indiana. He
became a high school English teacher and part-time church music director. Bill
Gaither's inspiration for the writing of the song "He Touched Me" came very late
one night. He had been asked to play the piano for a revival meeting in
Huntington, Indiana. He was accompanying Doug Oldham, who was providing the
music for his father, Dr. Dale Oldham, the speaker for the evening. After the
meeting, as the three rode back to Bill's home in Anderson, Indiana, they
discussed how deeply they had felt the Spirit at the meeting. Dr. Oldham dropped
Bill off at home and his parting words were, "You should write a song that says,
'He touched me' oh, He touched me." Gaither couldn't sleep and he couldn't get
the preacher's words out of his head. He remembered how many of the people at
the revival meeting seemed to have come in heavy laden and had left uplifted
with joy and hope. The next morning his wife Gloria awoke to find him still up
and working on the song. Soon Doug Oldham began performing the song at revivals
and concerts and he recorded it, as did the Bill Gaither Trio in 1963. Elvis
Presley recorded "He Touched Me" in 1971 Nashville, Tennessee.
O 'Oe 'Io (Morgan) Star of the Sea Choir; unable
to perfrom this year
Psalm 67 Let the People of
the Earth Exult (Mondoy) Group Song
Take Up Your Cross
(Boltz) Our Lady Of Sorrows Voices of Faith Choir
This song of commitment was written by Ray Boltz,
with musical collaboration by Steve Millikan and Jane Johannson. Ray Boltz was
born in 1953 in Muncie, Indiana, and sold many throughout the 1980's and 1990's.
In his devotion to the Christian ideal, he embarked on a series of expeditions
that sent him to Africa and Asia. While on tour, he collected hundreds of
thousands of dollars for food to feed starving people in Calcutta, India. He
employed his musical talents to bring a Christian message to shut-ins including
prisoners, hospital patients, and convalescent home residents. Steve Millikan
was born in Seattle and grew up in Bothell, Washington. He began musical
training began with piano lessons at age 6. In 1982 or 1983 he helped produce an
album with the young aspiring songwriter and artist Ray Boltz. In the early days
of "Christian recording", these songs of commitment helped mobilize the ideals
of youthful Christians: "Take up your cross and follow Jesus, Take up your cross
everyday. Don't be ashamed to say that you know him; Count the cost and take up
your cross and follow Him." The Hawaiian translation is by Kainoa Fukumoto.
Hele Mai e Nä Luhi
/ I Ke Alo O Iesü
(Mondoy), (Kamamahi/Fukumoto) St. John Vianney Choir
Hele Mai E Na Luhi is a well-known and well-liked hymn from
the Congregation church tradition. The composer's first seminary music teacher,
Brother Benedict Zane, taught Rob and his classmates this song in 1966. They
often had to sing it for funerals. The voice of the good shepherd beckons the
soul to find rest with the insistent invitation "Mai, mai, hele mai"; "Come,
come, come unto me, and you shall find rest." This modern re-casting of the song
hopes to mimic the same melodic charm of the old venerable hymn by using a
modern musical vocabulary. What then follows is the lively anthem "I Ke Alo O
Iesü", composed by the famed local musician Dennis Kamakahi in 1977. The very
dynamic choral arrangement was done by Kainoa Fukumoto and debuted at this very
same 'Aha Himeni Hymn Festival in 2009. "Come into the presence of Jesus," says
the song, "to the glory of the golden land, and breathe in the sweetness of the
good Lord Jesus."
Ke Kino Nui 'O Iesü (The
Body Of Christ) (Manolo) Pearl Harbor Memorial Chapel
Catholic Choir
Ricky Manolo CSP is a member of the
Missionary Society of St. Paul, the Paulists. He is a graduate of the Manhattan
School of Music and the Washington Theological Union. His liturgical music is
published by Oregon Catholic Press and GIA publications. He has written articles
on liturgy, pastoral music, and intercultural ministry. He is a member of the
North American Academy of Liturgy, a board member of the National Association of
Pastoral Musicians, and is an advisor to the U.S. Bishops' Secretariate on
Cultural Diversity in the Church. Currently he is a doctoral candidate at the
Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, and an adjunct professor at
Santa Clara University and the Jesuit School of Theology. He will be a keynote
speaker at the upcoming BI-LAC Liturgical Conference at Chaminade University
this coming November 3-5. "In the presence of our God, as we gather here in
Christ, feel the spirit breathe upon us the breath of life, graced and divine.
Behold the Body of Christ; rejoice O people of God, we are the Body of Christ!"
The translation is by Lopaka Kapanui is the arrangement by Maridel Soriano.
Hallelujah, fr.
Christ on the Mount of Olives (Beethoven) Our Lady of
Peace Cathedral
Christ on the Mount of Olives, Op.
85, is an oratorio by Ludwig van Beethoven portraying the emotional turmoil of
Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane prior to his crucifixion. It was begun in the
fall of 1802. It was quickly completed early the following year, and was first
heard on April 5, 1803, and revised by Beethoven in 1811 for publication in
Germany. The work is a dramatic oratorio rather than a religious choral Mass or
a dramatic opera, and is a much more humanistic portrayal of the Christ passion
than other settings, such as those by Bach. It concludes at the point of Jesus
personally accepting his fate, placing the emphasis on his own decision rather
than the later Crucifixion or Resurrection. A complete performance runs for
nearly 50 minutes. Beethoven was quite critical of the piece, his only oratorio,
thinking it too dramatic in nature, and the orchestra and chorus too
under-rehearsed in its premiere performance. Although the work enjoyed immediate
public success following its premiere, it has since drifted into obscurity, and
is now rarely performed, However the final chorus we are going to listen to this
evening enjoys a popularity of its own, usually being rendered as a great and
grand "Hallelujah". The Hawaiian translation is by Calvin Liu.
Sing All God's
Creation Group Song
Notice to ALL: If you have pictures of our performing choirs
(not just yours..I have "zero"..) from this and the previous
4 years, please do contact rob mondoymusic AT gmail DOT com. I'd like to post
them (by years) on the website :-)
Want to listen to 2010's Presentations? mp3 file downloadale here:
2010 'Aha Hïmeni
Want to listen to 2009's Presentations? mp3 file downloadale here:
2009 'Aha Hïmeni This was
the Damien Year Special Presentation
Go to Mondoy Music Web Page Index (at the left) for
more options