LISTEN: Hilo musician Kainani Kahaunaele, who teaches at UH Hilo, talks to Hawai‘i Public Radio
Once a Hawaiian language student at UH Hilo, Kainani Kahaunaele is now a lecturer at the university’s Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language. She’s also a highly successful musician and four-time Na Hoku Hanohano award winner.
Kainani Kahaunaele, award-winning musician and lecturer at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo‘s Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language, spoke with Hawaiʻi Public Radio about her latest album Waipunalei and the inspiration behind several mele (songs).
“I’m in here for the long haul,” she says. “I’m trying to get more Hawaiian music into the ears of Hawaiʻi, into the ears of our youth, and to show my generation that we can do it. But we have to do it well, as far as the language and the poetry are concerned, and we’ll bring integrity to the front line of Hawaiian music.”
Listen to the full interview aired July 16, 2021.
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UH Hilo alumna Kainani Kahaunaele’s primary goal is to teach ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i and all things Hawaiian
