Posted on: Sunday, July 15, 2001

Children's choirs in concert

By Jean Chow
Advertiser Staff Writer

The first Pacific Rim Children's Choral Festival at the Blaisdell Concert Hall next Sunday will feature the voices of over 300 youngsters from around the country. Eight children's choirs from the Mainland and 25 members from the Hawai'i Youth Opera Chorus, which is the host of the event, will perform.

The concert will include musical pieces from Hawai'i, New Zealand, Samoa, Tahiti, China and Japan, said Malia Ka'ai, general manager of the Hawai'i Youth Opera Chorus. "There is very little published in this choral music genre, so we hope to get more Pacific Rim music published and sung."

To get into the spirit of the songs, the kids will spend three mornings immersed in a Pacific island culture at the Polynesian Cultural Center. The concert is "going to be a great time of kids getting together to make music," said Ka'ai. The performance begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10-$12 at the Blaisdell box office. Kids under 5 get in free. Call 526-4410.