The Jazz Maui 2024 Maui Music Series presents the 25th Annual King Kekaulike High School Spring Concert
The Jazz Maui 2024 Maui Music Series presents the 25th Annual King Kekaulike High School Spring Concert, on Thursday, April 11th, in the Castle Theater at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, 1 Cameron Way, Kahului. The concert spotlights the Kekaulike Wind Ensemble and Kekaulike Choir along with the Na Ali‘i Big Band featuring special guest saxophonist Chad Lefkowitz-Brown. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the concert begins at 7 p.m. Admission is free.
Chad Lefkowitz-Brown is a New York-based saxophonist and recording artist recognized for his work as a soloist in the genres of jazz and pop music. Hailed as a “Sax Phenom” by the New York Daily News, Chad is a featured artist on two Grammy winning albums, and has toured through six continents playing venues from Carnegie Hall to the Super Bowl. As a bandleader, he has headlined jazz venues and festivals around the world. As a soloist, Chad has joined acts like Chris Botti, Arturo Sandoval, and Christian McBride. No stranger to the big screen, Chad has been featured on numerous TV shows with pop icons like Taylor Swift, rock legends like Don Henley, as well as the Hollywood film, “Here Today” with Billy Crystal and Tiffany Haddish.
The Na Ali‘i Big Band is one of Hawai‘i’s premier ensembles for traditional and contemporary big band-style jazz and swing. Ranging from Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington to Maynard Ferguson and Gordon Goodwin, this after-school course focuses on the stylistic elements of jazz music throughout the last 100 years and has toured across the state of Hawai‘i as well as across the U.S. Mainland and throughout Japan.
Comprised of over 45 students ranging from grades 9 to 12, the Kekaulike Wind Ensemble is designed to be a continuation of the intermediate school band experience and to prepare students for music in college and beyond. The Wind Ensemble specializes in the performance of both classical and contemporary wind band literature ranging in difficulty from advanced high school to the collegiate level.
The Kekaulike Concert Choir is a vocal ensemble of over 30 students ranging from grades 9 to 12. Students work to refine their singing technique and perform repertoire utilizing various harmonic structures and mixed voice parts. Standard choral repertoire is studied, as well as contemporary music and works from the jazz, pop, rock, and R&B genres.
The King Kekaulike High School Music Program was established in September of 1995, coinciding with the opening of the main school. The program engages more than 50 public performances per year throughout Hawai‘i and frequently tours across Japan and the U.S. Mainland. The program often brings award-winning guest artists to Maui with the help of organizations such as Jazz Maui to mentor, adjudicate, and perform with the students. The list of guest musicians includes Tower of Power’s David Garibaldi, the Jazz Messengers’ Valery Ponomarev, the Duke Ellington Orchestra’s Tommy James, legendary trumpeter and composer Eric Miyashiro, Grammy-nominated Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and Grammy-winners such as percussionist Arturo O’Farrill, trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis, and saxophonist Sal Lozano.
Jazz Maui, a branch of the 501(c)3 nonprofit Arts Education for Children Group (www.aecg.org), provides opportunities for participation in high quality jazz music education and performances. Throughout the year The Jazz Maui 2024 Maui Music Series presents Sunset Jazz every Sunday in Lahaina, outstanding visiting virtuosos in a bi-monthly concert series in Kihei, and special concerts, clinics and classes held at various venues around the islands. Jazz Maui supports Jazz Night at the Empanada Lady in Wailuku and “Sheryl Renee Salutes” at ProArts Playhouse. Selected performances presented by Jazz Maui are live-streamed on the organization’s website: www. JazzMaui.org.
The Jazz Maui 2024 Maui Music Festival is supported by Hawaii Tourism Authority through the Community Enrichment Program.
For more information, visit www.JazzMaui.org.