Masters of Hawaiian Music Bring Their Award-winning Sound to Mainstage Center for the Arts

The Masters of Hawaiian Music Tour ,featuring multiple Grammy award-winning artists George Kahumoku, Jr., Ledward Kaapana and Richard Ho‘opi‘I, comes to Mainstage Center for the Arts, Dennis Flyer Theatre at Camden County College, 200 College Drive, Blackwood, New Jersey on Thursday, October 16, 2014. Tickets for the 8:00 pm show are $35 advance purchase and can be purchased at mainstage.org or by calling 855-936-2467 ext 3.

This tour marks the debut Mainstage appearance for Ledward Kaapana, whose flashy style draws from his family’s roots on the Big Island. According to The Seattle Times, “His fleet fingers, leaping phrases and seemingly boundless imagination for improvisation suggest a jazz influence.” Kaapana is well known as a member of the iconic trio Hui ‘Ohana and has worked with Nashville legends Dolly Parton, Chet Atkins, Alison Krauss and Jerry Douglas.

“I am very excited about this evening of authentic Hawaiian music, hula, and storytelling. Each artist is a Hawaiian treasure and music legend – George has won multiple Grammy awards; Led and Uncle Richard are both NEA National Heritage Fellowship Award recipients,” said Ed Fiscella, Artistic Director at Mainstage Center for the Arts.

Hawaiian slack key guitar, kī hō‘alu, is one of the world’s great acoustic guitar traditions. Relatively unknown outside of Hawaii, slack key guitar is often confused with and actually pre-dates the more well known Hawaiian lap steel that developed in the late 1880s or 1890s. Slack key was developed by Hawaiian cowboys who “slacked” the strings of guitars brought by Mexican cowboys hired by King Kamehameha III to teach Hawaiians better ranching methods. Slack key is a finger-picked style, and the tradition continues to evolve from techniques and tunings handed down through the generations.

From the renowned “Slack Key Show®” on Maui that produced 4 Grammy Award-winning CDs, these 3 Masters bring Hawai‘i’s unique folk styles, with origins in the early 19th century Hawaiian paniolo (cowboy) culture, to 21st century stages. They grew up in areas so rural, without electricity, radio, or TV, that they were immersed in Hawaiian music and culture from childhood.
George Kahumoku, Jr., four-time Grammy winner and master slack key guitarist, is known as “Hawai‘i’s Renaissance Man”, is a multiple Na Hōkū Hanohano (Hawaiian Grammy) Award winner, a vocalist, storyteller, songwriter & author, teacher, sculptor, farmer, and chef.

Ledward Kaapana, a master of the slack key guitar and National Heritage Fellow, has been one of Hawaii’s most influential musicians for four decades. His mastery of stringed instruments, his exceptional picking style on slack key guitar and ‘ukulele, and his extraordinary baritone to leo ki`eki`e (falsetto) vocal range, have made him a musical legend and earned him multiple Na Hōkū Awards.

Richard Ho‘opi‘i is a living legend of Hawaiian music and master of the traditional art form of Hawaiian falsetto. For many years he performed with his brother Sol as the Ho‘opi‘i Brothers. He has received the National Endowment for the Arts Folk Heritage Fellowship, America’s highest honor for traditional artists. Charismatic on stage, his lively music, thick white hair and infectious smile make him one of the most recognizable Hawaiian musicians.

For additional information, contact Ed Fiscella at 855-936-2467 or visit mainstage.org

Mainstage Center for the Arts, located in Blackwood, NJ, is committed to making the arts experience enjoyable for all its patrons. In an effort to make the shows, concerts, events, workshops, classes, and offices accessible to as many as possible, Mainstage offers many services for patrons requiring assistance. For anyone in need of assistance, please notify the office at (855) 93-MAINSTAGE, (855-936-2467) at the time of purchasing tickets, or at least five days prior to the event you are attending.
Mainstage Center for the Arts, the parent program for Summer Stage, is a 501 © (3) non-profit organization committed to providing a creative, vibrant, and nurturing environment for youth and adults. This program is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts and by funds from the National Endowment for the Arts. This program is also made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey Cultural Trust.