Hoʻokūkū Hīmeni

About Song Contest

The Kamehameha Schools Song Contest is a time-honored tradition at Kamehameha Schools Kapālama. Held annually at the Neal Blaisdell Center, Song Contest is a choral competition between the high school classes. Students participate as a graduation requirement, performing a cappella choral arrangements of mele (Hawaiian songs) as a class. The program, held on a Friday evening in mid-March, lasts about two and a half hours and features ten choral song performances and an exhibition of hula and Hawaiian music.

Theme

Each Song Contest has a theme that guides song selection and the Hōʻike performances. A theme might focus on songs sharing a particular motif, celebrate the anniversary of an important cultural event, or pay tribute to a renowned Hawaiian composer. For example, the 2013 Song Contest featured songs written about keiki, the 2012 Song Contest celebrated the 125th anniversary of Kamehameha Schools, and the 2011 Song Contest honored the compositions of Irmgard Farden Aluli.

Song Directors

Song directors, sometimes called song leaders, are students who guide their classes in rehearsals and serve as conductor for their Song Contest performance. Directors are elected every year by their peers in a special assembly where they "audition" by conducting a song in front of the entire class. Freshmen elect only one director (for co-ed), while sophomores, juniors, and seniors elect 3 directors (for co-ed, men, and women).

Director candidates who aren't elected, usually seniors, often go on to direct the mass number performances at Song Contest, such as Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī, the Doxology, and Kamehameha March/Waltz.

Songs & Rehearsals

With the exception of the freshmen, each class performs three pieces: a men's song, a women's song, and a co-ed song. Each student director chooses their song from a pre-selected pool of songs by seniority, with seniors getting first pick.

The freshmen only perform a co-ed song, as they must also learn the "mass numbers" that the entire student body sings as part of the program, such as Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī and the school's alma mater, Sons of Hawaiʻi.

Kamehameha music department staff and community musicians create choral arrangements for each song. Sometimes, if a song has been performed in the past, an older arrangement will be re-used.

All incoming high school students are required to participate in "voicing", where they briefly sing in front of music department staff to determine their vocal range. Students are then assigned to a voice group: Soprano 1/2, Alto 1/2, Tenor 1/2, Baritone (B1), or Bass (B2). Voicing is also used to assign singing parts for Founder's Day and Commencement songs.

Students begin mandatory rehearsals in January with their voice group. As each group masters their part, voice groups are combined into bigger rehearsals, culminating in full rehearsals with the whole class. From January to March, students spend about two hours a week rehearsing their songs, with extra rehearsals scheduled for the week of Song Contest (including a day on-site at the Blaisdell Arena). Rehearsals are led by music department staff, in conjunction with song directors.

See the list of highest-scoring songs →

Program

Song Contest is held annually at the Neal Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, on a Friday in mid-March. The program officially begins at 7:30pm and usually ends by 10pm. Tickets are required for admission, though they are not available to the general public. Each student is allotted a certain number of free tickets for family and friends.

All tickets have assigned seats. Tickets distributed to students are generally assigned to seats that directly face the class (i.e. across the arena). Floor tickets are typically reserved for faculty, staff, invited guests, and guests of the student directors.

Prior to the official start of the program, students gather in the Neal Blaisdell Exhibition Hall to check in and do a final rehearsal. Each class enters the arena and performs their class oli, with the seniors entering last.

Inside the arena, the seniors sit front and center. Next to them in the corner are the freshmen, who are split into two sections. Facing the stage, the juniors sit on the left, and the sophomores on the right.

The televised Song Contest program typically proceeds as follows:

  • Oli Hoʻokipa (Welcome Chant)
  • Pule (Prayer)
  • Hoʻonani I Ka Makua Mau & Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī
    Student directors, typically seniors, lead the student body in the Doxology and Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī.
  • ʻŌlelo Hoʻokipa (Introductory Remarks)
  • Introduction of Judges
  • Girls'/Boys' Competitions
    The girls' competition is first in even years, the boys' competition in odd years. Each competition is introduced by a speaker of the opposite gender, who announces the order of performances, which is drawn at random. Each class' song is introduced by a student speaker, and then the class performs.
  • Co-ed Competition
    A student speaker, traditionally a freshman, introduces all four co-ed songs, then announces the randomly drawn order. Each class performs their song without an extra introduction.
  • Intermission
  • School Songs
    Student directors lead the student body in I Mua Kamehameha and either Kamehameha March or Kamehameha Waltz, which alternate yearly.
  • Hōʻike
  • Awards
    A student speaker introduces each award and award presenter, who then announces the winner(s).
  • Alma Mater
    The co-ed song directors collectively lead the student body in Sons of Hawaiʻi, the alma mater.

After the broadcast program ends, students are released back into the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall to receive lei from friends and family. Then students are free to enjoy Spring Break!

The mass numbers performed during the program by all students include:

  • Hoʻonani I Ka Makua Mau, the Doxology
  • Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī
  • Kamehameha March and Kamehameha Waltz, school songs which alternate yearly
  • I Mua Kamehameha, the school fight song
  • Sons of Hawaiʻi, the alma mater

Judging

Five judges, who are prominent figures in music or Hawaiian language, score each performance on a rubric of established criteria. Two music judges evaluate each song's musical quality and interpretation, and two language judges evaluate the pronunciation and flow of each song's use of Hawaiian language. An overall judge scores both categories.

Scores are tallied outside the arena during the intermission and Hōʻike by two Kamehameha faculty members – usually math teachers. These scores determine most of the award winners.

Learn more about judging →

Hōʻike

After a short intermission, student performers participate in an exhibition of Hawaiian music and hula called Hōʻike. Hōʻike features live music, narration, and performances of hula ʻauana (modern-style hula) and hula kahiko (traditional-style hula). Hōʻike performances revolve around a specific theme: a storyline based on a traditional moʻolelo, a medley, or a selection of songs from a Hawaiian musician's repertoire.

The 2008 Song Contest Hōʻike, "Hiʻiakaikapoliopele", told the story of Pele's sister Hiʻiaka.

Awards

At the end of Song Contest, each class eagerly awaits the presentation of six coveted awards, described below. In the case of ties, the award is shared.

  • Louise Aʻoe McGregor Award – First awarded in 1972, this trophy recognizes the student director(s) who exhibit the strongest leadership qualities throughout the Song Contest season. This is the only award that is not based on the judges' scores. Named for Louise Aʻoe McGregor, Class of 1897, the award is presented by one of her descendants.
  • Richard Lyman, Jr. ʻŌlelo Makuahine Award – First awarded in 1989, this trophy recognizes the song that earned the highest Hawaiian language score. Named for Richard Lyman, Jr., a longtime Kamehameha trustee, the award is currently presented by the headmaster of Kamehameha Schools Kapālama.
  • George Alanson Andrus Cup – Awarded since the very first Song Contest in 1921, this trophy recognizes the highest scoring men's song. Named for George Alanson Andrus, a music teacher at the School for Boys, the award is currently presented by a high school administrator.
  • New England Mothers' Cup – Awarded since the first women's competition in 1922, this trophy recognizes the highest scoring women's song and is currently presented by a high school administrator.
  • Helen Desha Beamer Award – First awarded in 1993, this trophy recognizes the song that earned the highest music score. Named for Helen Desha Beamer, Class of 1900, the award was donated by the Kamehameha Alumni Association and is presented by a representative from one of its regional chapters.
  • Charles E. King Cup – First awarded in 1967, this trophy recognizes the highest scoring co-ed song. Named for Charles E. King, Class of 1891, the award is currently presented by the high school principal.

History

Each class used to perform two songs, a choice song and a prize song. The choice song was selected by the class, which is still the case today. The prize song was a single song, selected by the music department, that was performed by every class. The prize song category ended in 1965, but it was brought back as a special one-time feature for the 1987 Song Contest, the centennial year of Kamehameha Schools.

Song Contest used to feature a senior division, consisting of the 10th, 11th, and 12th grade classes, and a junior division for the 7th, 8th, and 9th graders. In the very early years of Song Contest, all grades competed against each other, but they were soon split into two divisions because it was felt that the junior division would "rarely be able to win against the senior high school sections." The junior division was discontinued after 1956. Freshmen did not participate in the competition portion of Song Contest until 1967, but they did perform as an exhibition during intermission.

The first Song Contest was held for the boys in 1921. The first girls' competition was held the following year, in 1922. The two competitions were separate until 1952, when the first combined contest took place at the newly-built Kekūhaupiʻo "hangar".

The men's contests were first held on the original Kamehameha School for Boys campus at Kaiwiʻula, the present-day site of Bishop Museum. The women's contests were held on the Kamehameha School for Girls campus across the street, ma kai of present-day Farrington High School. After construction on the Kapālama campus was completed, Song Contests were held in the auditorium, and later in the new Kekūhaupiʻo "hangar" from 1952. The competition moved to its current venue, the Honolulu International Center (now the Neal Blaisdell Center), in 1964.

Hōʻike, as an exhibition of mele and hula, was first introduced in 1966 or 1967 by Winona Beamer.

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