Sounds of Aloha's blog

Dun-dun-DUNN! SOA's May 21, 2016 original comedy "True Defective - A Musical Whodunnit!" was a mystery, a comedy, a radio show, and an a cappella concert all in one, and from all accounts that unusual combination proved a hit with our audience! Written by SOA member and Po'okela-award-winning playwright Scot Izuka, the farce tells the story of how the Sounds of Aloha Chorus and its special guest quartet Vocal Spectrum are guests on radio station KORD when the quartet is kidnapped. Dun-dun-DUNN! As the mystery unwinds, SOA attempts to fill in on the station's regularly scheduled mystery drama show, "Bethel Street Blues," while the show's cast members are away trying their hand at solving the real life case.

The Sounds of Aloha Chorus was thrilled at the reception we received for our 2015 Christmas Show, the hilarious original production, "Santa needs an Ukulele!" Created by our very own in-house playwright and bass section member, Scot Izuka, the December 6 performances at Windward Community College's Paliku Theatre told the story of how Santa's head elf and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer enlist the aid of some Hawaii menehune (played by guest actors Kimo Albarado and Karen Kuioka Hironaga) to procure some needed musical gifts for a couple of deserving Hawaii keiki. The event featured performances by SOA's quartets, a number with the entire chorus playing ukulele, and even an audience ukulele play-along!

The Sounds of Aloha Chorus had a great time joining with our Hawaii sisters in song, the Sweet Adeline choruses Honolulu Blend Show Chorus (HBSC) and Na Leo Lani, in HBSC's annual show, "Happiness Is..." on October 24, 2015, at the Hawaii Theatre Center. We got to join HBSC in a great eight-part arrangement and joined both choruses for the show's finale. Also featured in the show were one of SOA's chapter quartets, 19th Avenue, and HBSC's newest quartet, Candid Connection. All in all it was an acappella extravaganza, and SOA is grateful to Honolulu Blend for putting it together!

SOA was immensely proud to participate as musical guests in honoring Japanese-Americans who served in the famed 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the Military Intelligence Service, and the 1399 Engineer Construction Battalion, at the Annual Joint Memorial Service at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl Crater on September 27, 2015. These heroes gave their all for America at a time when their own country viewed their community with suspicion, and it was especially moving to hear about how they rescued Lithuanian Jews from the Nazis at a time when some of their own families were living behind barbed wire back at home.