Music Scene
Falsetto in the kupuna tradition
By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| Richard Ho'opi'i will perform Sunday as part of the Living Masters Concert Series at 'Iolani Palace.
Carl Hefner • • • The falsetto singer learned his craft in his hometown of Kahakuloa, Maui, where "whoever was interested listened, kept on it and kept practicing." • • • Richard Ho'opi'i The Living Masters Concert Series Presented by the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts and the Friends of 'Iolani Palace 2 p.m. Sunday Coronation Pavilion, 'Iolani Palace Free 923-0113 |
There's a short wait. The sounds of chickens crowing and a screen door slamming shut precede Ho'opi'i picking up the long-distance line.
"I'm sorry," says Ho'opi'i, a bit out of breath. "When you have a piece of property you have to work it."
Ensconced in the kitchen of his home in the tiny fishing village of Kahakuloa on Maui's remote northwest coast, the younger half of Hawai'i falsetto masters the Ho'opi'i Brothers is ready for a brief chat before driving the 16 miles to work in Wailuku as a recreational aide for senior citizens.
"We wala 'au, sing songs and keep them happy," says Ho'opi'i, 60, about his longtime job with Maui County's Parks and Recreation Department.
The conversation returns to the village he has lived in since birth — by his estimate 135 residents "including the kids and all" — and his small property of 'ulu, bananas, flowers, ti plants and taro, a mere 400 yards from the ocean.
"What keeps me here is the lifestyle that our kupuna lived through," says Ho'opi'i, a deeply spiritual man with a lifelong appreciation and respect for the land. "This is the lifestyle that I grew up with ... my parents, their teachings and my love for the 'aina."
Ho'opi'i and older brother Solomon began their education in the art of high-pitched vocalizing called falsetto at age 6 not because each was recognized as particularly talented, but because learning music was an expected part of Kahakuloa life.
"The village was so close, and almost everybody was a singer," remembers Ho'opi'i. "There was always a pa'ina or a lu'au where the kupuna would be singing. Whoever was interested listened, kept on it and kept practicing."
The Ho'opi'i Brothers began singing and playing 'ukulele at their high school, at church, and eventually at private parties and hotels.
Says Richard: "We had no voice training. We just learned from the kupuna."
The brothers released the first of seven albums featuring their trademark falsetto stylings in 1972, the most recent being 1999's "Aloha From Maui." In 1996, Richard and Sol were presented a National Endowment for the Arts Folk Heritage Fellowship, one of the nation's highest honors for traditional and folk artists.
The Ho'opi'is' four-decade public performance career came to a sadly unexpected conclusion in 1998 when Sol was felled by a stroke, which affected the left side of his body and his vocal chords. Though Sol, 66, continues to conduct his church choir, he has regretfully retired from his music career.
"Music is still a part of him," Richard says of the older brother he laughingly claims to "know better than he knows himself." "He was laid off for a while because he was sick, but he's back on stage singing in the (church) chorus. His vocals aren't what they used to be, but he can still sing.
"In general, he's doing fine. I can say he's doing a lot better than a lot of people in the same place."
The brothers still live just a few miles from each other.
Richard Ho'opi'i's first CD as a solo artist will be released this summer, featuring the Ho'opi'is' longtime friends and regular accompanists Ledward Ka'apana (guitar), Bobby Ingano (steel guitar) and Chris Kamaka (bass).
After more than a few years of prodding, Richard began passing on his leo ki'eki'e skills to students as a "living master" in the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts Folk Arts Program last year. Current apprentice Bobo Miles will be on stage with him at this weekend's Living Masters Concert on the grounds of 'Iolani Palace.
"We take turns flying," laughs Ho'opi'i, of Miles' interisland voice lessons. "It's good for him to come out here. ... (Falsetto isn't) all about singing in the highest pitch that you can, but knowing what you want to project to the audience. Our sessions don't just deal with singing, but absorbing nature.
"I take him around to the different places where I grew up and tell him the story of the place. We drive around, look at the ocean ... the scenery. It connects him with the similar places in his life."
