It’s muʻumuʻu month here in Hawaiʻi nei, so we sang and celebrated in full dress finery, joined by special guests in the bari section! Enjoy these pics and video clip of our rainbow-hued rendition of Danny Couch’s beautiful lullaby, “These Islands.”
Freshly back from our Sweet Adelines regional convention in Nevada, the women of Na Leo Lani celebrated our return to rehearsal on the first day of May — Lei Day in Hawai’i.
Joining us as a special guest was the multitalented musical director, educator, and accompanist Phil Hidalgo, who helped us learn the group song for the Ke Kani O Ke Kaiāulu Community Chorus Festival.
We also belatedly celebrated our April birthday gals. Happy birthday, Coralyn!
With our “theme” rehearsals each week, you’ll never know what incarnation of your chorus mates will appear. This past week we had Captain Hook and a merry crew of shipmates “aaarrrrr”-ing enthusiastically.
Weekly themes are an activity our Music Team started during the pandemic to keep chorus members engaged and eager to see each other every week during the long, long months (nearly two years!) that we were rehearsing solely on Zoom. The themes proved so popular, we’ve kept up the practice ever since!
Although it’s definitely not necessary to come dressed up in the color or concept of the week, about a third of us usually do so, and some of our members really get into it (you know who you are, Yvonne and Rosie!), with humorous costumes and festive style.
Regardless of whether you’re adorned in pirate gear or just channeling your inner Jack Sparrow with a wink and a smile, the themes are a fun way to give shape to the evening’s activities, from our physical and vocal warmups to our customary photo op at the end of the night.
Enjoy the latest pic below, plus a video clip of four of our longtime members and former quartet-ers assembled for a pop-up quartet — “Sugarcane”!
. . . for National Coloring Book Day!
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.
In honor of Endangered Species Day and the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, the ladies of Na Leo Lani had a hoot doing energetic anti-poacher themed physical warm-ups at tonight’s rehearsal.
Our most spirited members sported outfits and images of their favorite wild species, from ‘Ohi‘a lehua (currently under threat from Rapid ‘Ohi‘a Death) to rhinos. Enjoy the pic below.
Na Leo Lani Chorus 