At our last rehearsal of every month, we always celebrate chorus members’ birthdays with a birthday sash, a special “get to know you” question posed by our Birthday Captain, Wally, and a rousing round of Happy Birthday to You in our best barbershop style.
Our November birthday girl, Rosie!This month’s birthday celebration coincided with National Cake Day,” which we marked with cake hats and more.
At our Wednesday rehearsal before the Thanksgiving holiday, we took time to express our gratitude for the gift of song . . . and have a little turkey-themed fun while we were at it. See below for photos of Na Leo Lani members strutting our stuff for turkey-style warm-ups and putting the “dressing” in dressing up for Thanksgiving.
(Photos courtesy of Chris W. & Suzanne N. — thank you!)
We really put our necks out for our physical warm-ups!
No one in this group is afraid to look like a turkey.
Guests and members (some dressed up in honor of “National Fast Food Day”)
Our rehearsal last night was graced by the presence of five ! guests, including two visiting Sweet Adelines from Australia — Marg Cox and Justine Cox, both of Southern Cross Region 34Headliners Chorus in New South Wales. We had a grand time and lots of laughs, including some crazy costumes in honor of Fast Food Day (who knew?!) and an audition by quartet Loco Moco.
Rehearsing Silent Night in Japanese Loco Moco auditioned to make official our new lead, Coralyn!
At our October 26 rehearsal, we celebrated Halloween a few days early with a Krazy Kwartet night filled with musical hijinks and silly costumes. See highlights from the comic lineup below.
Three-quarters of Friends quartet perform “Something in the Way She Moos”
Loco Moco hams it up with “Mr. Pumpkin”
Four basses sing “All I Have to Do (Is Be a Queen)!”Scarecrow Yoko and Dino Nora!What’s Halloween without a costume?
We had a lot to cheer about at the first rehearsal of our 2022 Holiday Program on October 19 as we welcomed old and new friends Yoko, Lissi, Pamela, Laura, Liana, and Allison.
Please click here: Holiday Program 2022 if you’d like to join our Holiday Program or learn more about it!
Three cheers for basses and leads!What joy to welcome back Yoko, Pamela, Laura , Liana, and to meet fabulous bass Allison!
On August 15, Na Leo Lani sang the Star Spangled Banner and Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī at Ala Moana Hotel as part of the opening ceremony of the 2022 training conference of the National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs. It was a brisk but enjoyable performance — made even better by our afterglow breakfast at Liliha Bakery.
What could be better than a morning gig followed by coffee and cream puffs?
In the spirit of summer fun, the ladies of Na Leo Lani had a blast in July showing off hidden talents in a members-only mini talent show. Entertainments included impromptu quartets, poignant folk tunes, a dramatic reading, and more. See below for pics of some of the evening’s entertainments.
Hamming it up — an all-bass quartet?? sings “How We Sang Today”Coralyn reciting a dramatic soliloquyDebbie sings “Nada Sou Sou”Vera hulas to “Lovely Hula Hands”Leads belt out “Bras Suck!” to the tune of “Java Jive” 🙂Pure Nerves quartet sings Ukulele Lady
Our July rehearsals have been full of theme spirit, including a lotta lippy attitude on National Kissing Day, July 7. We were joined by guests and prospective members Chrissy and Kaleo. Welcome, ladies!
After months of rehearsals and many challenges along the way, we sailed through our competition recording yesterday with full-throated joy. What a journey it has been!
Thank you so much to our director, Christine Wee; to the Region 12 recording team of Mary Mamer, Donna Prochazka, Randy Sahae, and Joanna Davis, who flew all the way out to Hawai’i for a quick, 48-hour whirlwind of lights, camera, and action; to the men of Sounds of Aloha who volunteered hours of their day to assist with the event; and to our Vice-President, Kristi Dagdagan, who organized an elegant and bounteous Afterglow. Each of you was masterful in your attention to detail, planning, and performance. Our kids, too, rose to the occasion, tirelessly putting in hours of work to set up and clean up the party. The delicious food and beautiful setting of the Afterglow made for the perfect ending to our 2022 contest experience.
Most of all, thank you to our amazing chorus members, who stayed together through two and half long years of Zoom rehearsals, masked rehearsals, and rehearsals in unusual and less than ideal settings. As the lyrics of one of our contest songs goes, “There is a feeling deep in my heart . . . It’s a feeling heavenly!” Uniting in harmony truly is heavenly. Thanks, ladies, for making it happen.
Na Leo Lani, Pure Nerves, Rhapsody, and the Region 12 recording teamIn the role of “Lani” In the role of “Tutu”Singing with heartOur director in action.The closing chord The Region 12 recording team and volunteers from Sounds of Aloha, plus Tim Waurick!Rhapsody and Pure Nerves taka photo opHamming it upThe wonderful volunteers (our kids!) who made our Afterglow possible Relaxing at the AfterglowRhapsody shares a tune at our AfterglowView from the topKieko & Chris happy and relieved at the end of our performance
Na Leo Lani is back to in-person rehearsals! We kicked off our return with a socially distanced approach — two sectionals of basses and leads in one room and baris and tenors in the other. It made for interesting harmonies and a great opportunity to hear each others’ parts for the first time while fine-tuning our own.
Interested in joining us or simply sitting in on a rehearsal to see what our chorus is about? See the “Join Us” page for current rehearsal location, times, and Covid guidelines.
Leads and basses keepin’ it on the down low. The week’s rehearsal theme was “red white and blue” in recognition of the Presidents Day holiday.