Kamehameha Schools Children’s Chorus to perform in New York, Washington, D.C., and Disneyland

May 12, 2005

Contributed by Ed Kalama Jr.

Highlight of the trip will be a June 2 performance at Ground Zero in New York City, site of the 9/11 tragedy, immediately followed by a half hour concert at the New York Fire Department headquarters. The performance at NYFD headquarters will include a ceremonial presentation by Honolulu Fire Department firefighters of a custom designed ukulele and surfboard to their New York City counterparts. Other KSCC appearances include a June 4 concert at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., and a June 5 performance at Statuary Hall in the nation's capitol during the annual King Kamehameha Lei Draping Ceremony. On June 7, the chorus will perform at the Carnation Plaza in Disneyland. "We hope to bless the New York Fire Department as well as the people of New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles with our songs and aloha," said Lynell Bright, who has served as director of the Kamehameha chorus since 1989. "Music is a very powerful tool, and when it comes from the lips of children, it can touch and bring healing to many hearts." Comprised of 101 Kapalama Campus students in grades 4-6, the KSCC was formed in 1988 by former Kamehameha music teacher Suzanne Kaupu Soon. The chorus' repertoire includes contemporary, Broadway, Hawaiian, traditional, original and sacred or religious music. Chorus members held fund-raisers to help finance the 2005 mainland tour. The Kamehameha Schools Children's Chorus is perhaps best known for its 2001 recording of two songs for the Disney animated hit movie "Lilo and Stitch." These songs are featured on two Disney CDs, the "Lilo and Stitch" movie soundtrack and "Lilo and Stitch Island Favorites." The chorus has also appeared in two concert performances with Celine Dion, with the Honolulu Symphony, the pre-game and halftime shows for the 2002 and 2005 Pro Bowls, the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and on Good Morning America's 1994 Christmas Day television special "Silent Night Around the World." In June 2001, the KSCC toured Japan and had the privilege of presenting a special song to the city of Hiroshima. To view current photos from the tour, please visit the Kamehameha Schools Children's Chorus Web site at http://www.ksbe.edu/campus/elementary/kscc/trip/ Kamehameha Schools is a statewide educational system founded and endowed by the legacy of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop. Currently, more than 5,700 students of Hawaiian ancestry are enrolled in K-12 campuses on three islands and at more than 30 preschool sites statewide. Kamehameha Schools also serves thousands of other Hawaiian learners each year through a range of outreach programs, community collaborations and financial aid opportunities in Hawaii and across the continental United States.