Songwriting Retreat For Beginners at HVNP

Budding songwriters will find inspiration among the towering koa and ‘ōhi‘a lehua trees, over fields of ropy pāhoehoe lava, and in the awe-inspiring eruptive glow from Halema‘uma‘u Crater at a two-day Hawaiian music songwriting retreat for beginners, a Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park release announced.

Hawaiian music, language and haku mele experts Kenneth Makuakāne and Kaliko Trapp-Beamer will lead the songwriting retreat at the summit of Kīlauea in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park on Aug. 16 and 17.

Kaliko Trapp-Beamer will also lead the Hawaiian music-writing workshops. Courtesy photo.

Makuakāne is a multiple Nā Hōkū Hanohano award winner with his group, The Pandanus Club, and has written more than 1,500 songs and produced more than 100 albums with most of Hawaii’s most populr Hawaiian music performers, said the Park Service release.

Beamer was raised as the hānai son of the late Hawaiian cultural expert Aunty Nona Beamer, learning Hawaiian chant, storytelling, traditional protocol, family songs and stories. He currently teaches Hawaiian language courses at the University of Hawai‘i in Hilo, helps coordinate the Beamer Family Aloha Music Camp, and is President of the Mohala Hou Foundation, dedicated to “preserve and perpetuate Hawaiian culture through education and the arts.”

Both workshops run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the park’s Education Center.

Advance registration is required. Call 985-6166 and leave a message by Aug. 8 to receive an email confirmation of your reservation.

The two-day Hawaiian songwriting retreat is sponsored by Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park and Hawai‘i Pacific Parks Association. Park entrance fees apply.