On October 21, Na Leo Lani joined with members of Honolulu Blend Show Chorus and men from Sounds of Aloha to celebrate World Singing Day.
Following a picnic and talk story time, we circled up and sang. The gorgeous surroundings of Kapiolani Park and Diamond Head were especially inspiring as we harmonized tunes we knew in common and new songs we learned on the spot.
Special thanks to HBSC director, Stephanie Brictson, for organizing this event, as well as to NLL members who attended: Jojo, Anna, Yvonne, Charley, Deb, Summer, Rosie and Chris, and dual NLL and HSBC members Yvonne and Charley.
We love harmonizing with all of you!
Beautiful music in a beautiful settingDirectors Chris and StephanieBarbershop harmony in harmony with nature!
A warm welcome to new Sweet Adeline, Rose, who was confirmed by the chorus as a new Na Leo Lani member this week. Rose brings her melodious voice, warm smile, and previous choral experience to our tenor section. We are thrilled to have her and look forward to many happy musical moments together!
Marking the occasion with cookies!
Making it official with our director, Chris, and president, Deb.
It’s almost that time of year again when the malls are decked out in poinsettias and we find ourselves crooning along with Bing Crosby, Mariah Carey (and Wham!?!) about Christmas days of old. If you love putting the “Mele” in “Mele Kalikimaka” (you know you do!), then Na Leo Lani’s “Sing with Us for the Holidays” (“SWUFTH”!) is for you!
Returning this year for another memorable season of song, SWUFTH 2023 is a ten-week program for women and women-identifying singers, age 14 and up, of all vocal talents and ranges.
WHEN?Wednesdays, 6:00 – 7:30 pm, October 11 – December 20 (December rehearsals may extend a bit longer)
WHERE?Mo’ili’ili Hongwanji, 902 University Avenue, Honolulu. Click HERE for map and parking details.
WHAT & HOW MUCH? $30.00 (Includes sheet music and learning tracks for three songs and two singalongs, plus weekly rehearsals & participation in our holiday performances in December.)
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Email naleolanichorus@gmail.com or simply come to one of our weekly rehearsals.
For general info about Na Leo Lani chorus, see our Join Us and Who We Are webpages.
Whether you are an old hand at choral music or have only ever sung in the shower, we invite you to embrace the spirit of the season and experience the delights of four-part a cappella barbershop harmony for the holidays.
“SWUFTH” 2023 starts October 11. Come join the fun!
Na Leo Lani recently had the opportunity to celebrate the musical talents of our brother chorus on O’ahu, Sounds of Aloha, at a Friends and Family performance. The men were putting the final touches on preparations for the 2023 Pan-Pacific International Convention in Auckland, New Zealand.
To make sure they kept their strength up on their journey and to infuse their singing with local flavor, we presented them a basket of local kine goodies — iso peanuts, arare, and more. 🙂 See photos below.
Since then, we heard back from the men that they had a wonderful time onstage and off. In addition to SOA’s performance, four Hawai’i quartets took part, and one of them, H4, was awarded the silver medal for Pan Pacific senior quartets!
Sounds of Aloha, under the direction of Bryce-William IrvineH4 puts the “H” in hamming it up (whose “helping hand” is that in the photo??)Our director, Christine Wee, presents a snack cornucopia to keep up the men’s singing superpowers
Returning to rehearsal this week after a two-week break, we marked this week’s theme, “National Coloring Book Day,” with our favorite colors and children’s books. After fun warmups by the Wee women, we launched into repertoire review, including sectional duets of our Summer Program song, “Count on Me” — a tune that is rapidly becoming one of our favorites.
Coming through town or interested in joining a chorus? Come check us out — Wednesdays at 6 p.m. at the Mo’ili’ili Hongwanji! See our join us page for more info.
What a blast we had on July 8 performing the two songs we learned for our summer program, as well as many other favorites from the Na Leo Lani repertoire. Making it even more special was a supportive turnout from sister choruses Honolulu Blend Show Chorus, Mission Valley Chorus (California), and Velvet Hills Chorus (Colorado).
After our performance, members of the audience and Na Leo Lani singers came up to participate in our first ever open mic event. It was a great afternoon of singing all around.
Many thanks to our summer program participants Summer, Marlene, Carolyn, and Donna — we hope you will continue singing with us! — and of course to all our chorus members and their families who made the event possible. Thanks most of all to Chris, our Director, for introducing these challenging but fun new songs. As she noted, they are still very much works in progress (hence our holding our sheet music in the video clip), but we covered a lot of ground in just six weeks and look forward to perfecting them further.
Enjoy the pics and video clips from the performance and open mic event below.
Amazing Summer Program participants Summer, Carolyn, and MarleneSandra from Mission Valley chorus and Chris Wee, NLL DirectorPure Nerves 2.0 with Anna pinch-hitting on bassFriends quartet reunited!A snippet from our new Summer Program song, “For Good”“How We Sang Today” joined by members Honolulu Blend Show Chorus, Mission Valley Chorus (California), and Velvet Hills Chorus (Colorado).Betsy tickling the ivories for open mic! A pop-up quartet of NLL members Chris and her husband, Phil, perform an open mic duet. Talk about nominative determinism — four variants of Carols, all of whom love caroling: Karlyn, Carolyn, Carol Kieko, and Carole!
At this week’s rehearsal, Na Leo Lani members wore a festive mix of red, white, and blue to honor and acknowledge those who served and those we’ve lost.
Another fun night of rehearsal with ensemble -style sectionals and a debut of a new tune by Pure Nerves quartet. The theme was “Goth Night,” which made for a lot of folks in black and some heavy eyeliner. 😉
Enjoy the video snippets and pic below.
Group B working on blend.
Pure Nerves offered an ode to America’s favorite sandwich. 🙂
Doing our best to look like “Goths” — with a dash of Halloween spirit thrown in (photo courtesy of Suzanne).
We had a ball today performing at the City & County of Honolulu Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) annual volunteer recognition celebration at the Waikiki Community Center.
In addition to honoring O’ahu’s 2023 volunteers of the year, we also recognized one of our own, Rosie Ramiro, who volunteers for the Lanakila Senior Center and many other places.
Whether serving on chorus committees, helping with rehearsal logistics, carpooling, or just sharing snacks, all of our NLL members are vital volunteers in our own right. Harmony is by definition a collective venture!
See video and pics below.
A couple of favorites. Photos and video courtesy of Adam LeFebvre, a fellow barbershopper who serves the City and County of Honolulu when he’s not singing!
After much hard work and immense amounts of help from family and friends, we put on our first holiday concert in three years! Thank you to all who came and enjoyed the show!
Very special thanks to
Reverend Won-Seok Yuh and Harris United Methodist Church for so generously allowing us use of their beautiful facility.
Jeff LeFebvre and his teamfor their much appreciated technical expertise and audio equipment support
Our very generous monetary donors for contributing to this hobby we love so much. Your contributions go toward rehearsal space rental, director fees, new music, music education, and preparations for our 2024 regional contest.
Our friends and family, who help set up, staff tables, bake delicious things, and pitch in to accomplish the essential tasks that enable us to put on a show!
Whether you support us with your time, your spirit, or your funds, know that our gratitude knows no bounds.
Na Leo Lani in concert!
Ovah da Pali ensemble Two generations of barbershoppers!Chris and RuthLoco Moco quartet
Guest quartet Vocal Mixology!
Pure Nerves quartet didn’t have a photo op at our 12/18 concert. Here is a pic from another of their recent performances instead.
Na Leo Lani Chorus 