The ho‘olaule‘a will include performances by the students of the Institute of Hawaiian Music (above) and Na Hoku Hanohano Award winners and nominees.

KAHULUI – For the first time, Maui entries and nominees for the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards will be featured in an all-day, free ho’olaule’a on Saturday, April 28, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Great Lawn of the University of Hawaii Maui College.

This event is part of the statewide Mele Mei celebration of Hawaiian music.

The ho’olaule’a will include performances by the students of the Institute of Hawaiian Music (IHM), Pono Murray, Matagi, Ahumanu, Grammy and Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner George Kahumoku and Anthony Pfluke, Mondokane, Halemanu Villarimo and Tarvin Makia, Cane Fire, Melinda Carrol with Lehua Simon, Mikeala Bega and Bentley Kalaway, Pat Simmons Jr., Na Hoku Hanohano Award winners Kanekoa, Damien Paiva and Goldawn Won.

More than half of the performers are also finalists for a Na Hoku Hanohano Award this year. Winners will be announced at the Hawaii Convention Center on May 19.

In addition to the live performances, IHM will host three workshops.

The first will feature IHM Director and Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts Governor Keola Donaghy, who will discuss both the Grammy and Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, the benefits of membership in both organizations and how to enter music releases into the awards.

The second will feature multiple Na Hoku Hanohano Award-winning songwriter, producer, performer and engineer Kenneth Makuakane, who will discuss songwriting and guide participants through writing their own song.

In the third workshop, participants will learn how to create puniu, a coconut shell drum used in hula. The workshop will be conducted by Kapono’ai Molitau.

There is a $10 fee for each workshop and a $50 material fee for the puniu-making workshop.

The ho’olaule’a is sponsored by IHM, Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts and the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

There will be food and drinks available for purchase. Parking is free.

For more information, or to reserve a seat in one of the workshops, contact Donaghy at donaghy@hawaii.edu or (808) 984-3570.