Proclamation Presented to Honoka‘a Jazz Band

WHEREAS, the Honoka‘a Jazz Band began in 1988 with Musical Director Gary Washburn and eleven students as part of the music curriculum at Honoka‘a High School; and

WHEREAS, since 1989, the Honoka‘a Jazz Band has traveled to O‘ahu each year to participate in the O‘ahu Band Directors Association Annual Jazz Festival every April in celebration of National Jazz Appreciation Month; and

WHEREAS, with the help of the Hāmākua Music Festival, the band has performed with world-class artists, including David Benoit, James Moody, Paul Kreibich, Luther Hughes, Ollie Mitchell, Slyde Hyde and the Olliephonic; and

WHEREAS, for the past fifteen years, the band has served as the entertainment for the Friends for Youth Transition Conventions on the Big Island with Frank Delima, performed with Melveen Leed as part of the Lokahi Tree Project, and played for national conventions held on the Big Island, including the National Veterans Association and Upward Bound during which they received standing ovations; and

WHEREAS, in 2010, Honoka‘a High & Intermediate School was recognized by the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation as one of 138 schools in the United States with an outstanding music education program; and

WHEREAS, in 2011, the band was one of only 36 schools out of 22,000 eligible schools in the U.S. to receive a GRAMMY Signature Schools Award; and

WHEREAS, the band has performed on National Public Radio as part of the Hawai’i edition of”From the Top” in 2009, was featured in the June 2012 edition of “Hana Hou: The Magazine of Hawaiian Airlines,” appeared on the local Morning News Show in 2013, and was again featured on CNN’s Jazz Alley in 2014, 2015 and 2016; and

WHEREAS, Director Gary Washburn received a Claes Nobel Educator of Distinction Award from the National Society of High School Scholars in 2011 and recognized as a Living Treasure of Hawai‘i in 2013; and

WHEREAS, in conjunction with National Jazz Appreciation Month in April and UNESCO International Jazz Day on April 30, communities, schools, artists, historians, and jazz enthusiasts around the world will celebrate jazz as an art form that is recognized for promoting peace, diversity and freedom of expression;

THEREFORE I, David Y. Ige, Governor, and I, Douglas S. Chin, Lieutenant Governor of the State of Hawaii, do hereby proclaim April 2018 as “Jazz Appreciation Month” in Hawai‘i and ask the people of the Aloha State to join us in applauding the Honoka‘a Jazz Band for their ongoing excellence and recognizing the importance of music education in our schools and the role of jazz music in uniting cultures in a global environment.

DONE at the State Capitol, in Executive Chambers, Honolulu, State of Hawai‘i, this sixth day of April 2018.