Sounds of Aloha's blog

Singing Valentines 2022!

Submitted by Sounds of Aloha on February 17, 2022 - 12:00am

For the second year in a row, Sounds of Aloha quartets delivered safely sung musical messages for a Valentine’s Day still not entirely free of COVID. Check out photos of some highlights below. While we delivered fewer Singing Valentines this year than in past years unaffected by COVID, somehow every delivery was a memorable success -- for sender, recipient, and singers alike! We so enjoyed contributing to the celebrations people were having.

Here are couple of testimonials from our customers:

SOA Returns to In-Person Performing with Christmas Concert!

Submitted by Sounds of Aloha on December 13, 2021 - 11:50am

On December 11, 2022, the Sounds of Aloha were thrilled to return to performing live and in person after a long COVID hiatus that had limited us to virtual performances! We were honored to sing Christmas songs for a relatively small, distanced, and masked audience of true music lovers at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu.

We are grateful to the church and its Director of Music and Liturgy, Scott Fikse, who runs a formidable music program there -- and also is an experienced and talented barbershopper! In fact, we couldn't resist calling him up to sub in as bass and sing a song with one of our quartets, 19th Avenue. You can watch the whole performance by clicking on any of the images below:

SOA's Video "Songs of the Season" Benefits Hawaii Theatre

Submitted by Sounds of Aloha on December 6, 2021 - 12:00am

While the time wasn’t quite right yet in 2022 for the Sounds of Aloha Chorus to hold our traditional Christmas show in person again, we were delighted to record another video holiday performance on stage at the Hawaii Theatre. The video of “Songs of the Season” was and is available for viewing on the Hawaii Theatre website, for a contribution to the Theatre, which like all live performance venues has had a rough go of things for the past couple of years.

Overcoming COVID for 2021 Singing Valentines!

Submitted by Sounds of Aloha on February 25, 2021 - 5:14pm

The popular Sounds of Aloha Singing Valentines program was a success in 2021 despite all the challenges of the pandemic. This year our quartets sallied forth in person and online to deliver 78 love messages to lucky recipients.

Cool story: Years ago, the gentleman in the picture to the left had ordered an SOA quartet to provide a serenade when he proposed to his now wife! This year he surprised her again with a quartet for Valentine's Day.

Check out a few more highlights below!

How to Hold an Ice Cream Social During a Pandemic!

Submitted by Sounds of Aloha on November 2, 2020 - 12:00am

For years, the Sounds of Aloha have held a popular ice cream social, with roaming quartets, all-you-can-eat ice cream and toppings, and a short chorus performance at the end. This year, with most everything shut down during the COVID pandemic, we haven't been able to gather and perform live. But that challenge pales in comparison to the impact COVID has had on so many small businesses.

SOA Offers Virtual Memorial Day Tribute

Submitted by Sounds of Aloha on May 25, 2020 - 4:00pm

The members of the Sounds of Aloha Chorus were sad not to be rendezvousing early on the morning of Memorial Day 2020 to ride a bus up to Punchbowl crater, as we have been doing now for several years. We alway find the Mayor's Memorial Day Ceremony both poignant and inspirational. But we still managed to find a way to observe the occasion! Below is the message that we sent out with our second recording as a "virtual chorus," which you can watch and hear by clicking here:

Sharing Sounds of Aloha with Our Friends Virtually

Submitted by Sounds of Aloha on April 13, 2020 - 9:35pm

Separated from one another's voices, and trying to bring a little musical comfort to our friends and neighbors while we all ride out the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sounds of Aloha Chorus decided to cobble together a virtual performance from their individual homes. We were overjoyed to be rejoined by some of our long-distance members, from as far away as our friend Sig Rønbeck above the Arctic Circle in Norway!

Here's the message we sent out on April 11, 2020, and which we extend to you:

The Sounds of Aloha Chorus hopes all of our friends are faring well during these difficult and disruptive times.

Sounds of Aloha Performs "Holiday Pops" with Hawaii Symphony Orchestra

Submitted by Sounds of Aloha on December 12, 2019 - 12:00am

The Sounds of Aloha Chorus performed with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra (HSO) in a terrifically fun concert called "A Very Merry Holiday Pops!" on December 10, 2019, at the Hawaii Theatre. The program featured HSO and SOA separately but also in combined pieces custom arranged for orchestra and men's barbershop chorus! The performance also featured our good friend and past Annual Show guest performer, the wonderful entertainer and music educator Shari Lynn.

SOA's Latest Christmas Comedy: "A Mall and the Night Visitors!"

Submitted by Sounds of Aloha on December 10, 2019 - 12:00am

Yes, you read that right. It's not this. In another original comedy for SOA, our resident playwright (and bass singer) Scot Izuka, created a story where the chorus accidentally gets locked inside the mall after a Christmas performance. Travails, laughs, and music ensue involving elves, Santa, the chorus, quartets, and one tita security guard, played by our good friend, the hilarious Karen Kuioka Hironaga. This year we held an afternoon matinee as well as an evening performances on December 8, 2019, in Paliku Theatre on the campus of Windward Community College.

A Wonderful Send-off from Our Friends & Families

Submitted by Sounds of Aloha on October 5, 2019 - 10:47pm

This is the week the Sounds of Aloha Chorus embarks for Modesto, California, to take part in the Far Western District Convention and Competition of the Barbershop Harmony Society, October 10-13, 2019. And what a special evening we had on our normal rehearsal night this past Thursday, October 3, when we performed our two-song competition package a couple of times for our families and some of our closest friends, fans, and supporters at the Ala Wai Golf Course Clubhouse ballroom! In barbershop we call this traditional pre-competition dress rehearsal "Friends & Family Night," and this was one to remember.