Tag Archive | Quartet

Pump(kin) up the volume!

Every NLL rehearsal is an opportunity for fun, but Halloween in particular is a time for good-spirited silliness, with unusual assemblages of vocal parts facing off in a Krazy Kwartet competition.

This year’s Kraziness featured a trio of spooky witches, an all-tenor ensemble hitting those scary high notes, and a quintet of bold basses. Not to be outdone, the leads and baris formed a motley flock of black sheep — so baaaad, they’re good!

Not baaaad, ladies!
High-hatting harmonics

Basses band together

Tenors trip the high wire!
Tuning up for Christmas in Halloween style

Streamers & strumming

It’s been a whirlwind, literally! at our rehearsals lately as we’ve incorporated a mad frolic of colorful streamers into our moves, along with ukulele singalongs, and a walk down musical memory lane as we celebrated the 49th anniversary of the chorus.

Our 50th is coming up next year!!

Enjoy these pics from our late August and early September rehearsals, plus a snippet of a gorgeous rendering of Aloha ‘Oe by an ensemble of our members.

Aloha ‘oe
A Friends quartet reunion!
Love the Ukulele Ladies!
Getting wild in musical style
Our version of those Olympic ribbon dancing gymnasts 😉

Blast from the past

Many of our members have been singing with Na Leo Lani for years. Enjoy this 2006 Honolulu Star Bulletin blast from the past featuring former long-running quartet, the Skylarks, just in time for Valentine’s Day!

COURTESY CLAUDIA CANNON
The Skylarks offer a woman’s touch in a singing Valentines Day greeting. Members are from left, Carol Wee, tenor; Charley Oyama, lead; Joann Kirihara, bass; Debbie Noguchi, baritone. (Star Bulletin features 7 February 2006)

Supporting our Barbershop Brothers!

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 Irvine
H4 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

Shabooming along & PBJ!

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).

Four on the Floor fun

Last week’s rehearsal was filled with fast-paced musical antics and opportunities to show off our chops in impromptu quartets as we worked on our songs of the moment. Share the fun in the clips below.

Harmony heaven!
Final chords are the best!

A Concert full of Christmas Vibes and Holiday Jives

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 team for 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
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.

SAI blast from the past!

Recently featured in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s “Back in the Day” / Archive section was this photo from October 30, 1969 of the Air Fares of California, participating in the Sweet Adelines 23rd annual International Convention and Quartet Competition in Honolulu.

Do you recognize any of the women in this photo? If so, let us know!

The caption reads” The Air Fares from California are among 41 ladies’ barbershop quartets competing for the championship at the Sweet Adelines 23rd annual International Convention and Quartet Competition at the Honolulu International Center.”