5:30 pm, June 20th, Maui Tropical Plantation
My hippie friend, her very-hippie mother, – ladies, I say that with love – and I took a leisurely stroll through fields of Kamiya Papayas,
Macademia Nuts, Sugar Cane, Taro, Heliconia, and other beautiful plants. Along the way we stopped to gape at a few little monkeys, scurry away from irritable swans, and toss flakes to some sparkly fish. If this is a plantation, then I wonder why i didn’t become a farmer. Alright, being a farmer is just too much damn work. But enjoying the hard work of others is, of course, a favorite pastime of mine.
After about an hour of pretending to be wandering through the amazon – or riding the tram if that suits your fancy – head over the the Banquet room for the Maui Youth Philharmonic Orchestra’s dinner and benefit concert. The evening will get off to a Hawaiian-style start with music by Uluwehi Guerrero, the 2010 Hawaiian Album of the Year Winner, and hula dancers from his Halau Hula Kauluokala. Next, Riana Anthony, seventeen-year-old cello prodigy, will perform a solo by Paganini, followed by two selections by Honolulu’s Lifen Anthony Cello Quintent. Then, logically, The Latin Project, from Shanghai, Asia’s premier Salsa and Latin Jazz band will play music for open salsa dancing.
If it becomes awkward when a polo-shirt-clad man with a single bead of sweat between his eyes asks you to join him for a few salsa dances,slip away to the silent auction, or settle back into your seat to enjoy more of the delicious dinner. All proceeds will support the Maui Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, which gives youth a chance to experience and learn orchestral string instruments, which are not taught in any private or public school in Maui County (well, of course they aren’t, we can’t even pay teachers on fridays, much less buy a cello.)
As featured in our Summer Guide, MYPO also offers a two-week music workshop, Summer Music Festival 2010, from June 14-25 at Pomaika’i Elementary school in Kahului, where anyone over the age of 8 can attend classes from 8 am to 2 pm for $425.
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