I had the opportunity recently to interview members of the Ko’olauloa Children’s Chorus, a choir based in La’ie that’s headed by Esther Macy.

I caught them on a Saturday morning as they rehearsed at the BYUH Ballroom for an upcoming performance with the Honolulu Symphony (that’s right–the the symphony! This is clearly not your average ‘effort is all that counts’ choir).

What struck me as I sat there listening to these kids–all between around 8 and 16 or so–is that they sounded GOOD. Amazing, actually. And this was some serious classical stuff, nothing like what your average 20th century child listens to on a daily basis. Plus, they were reading music!

Photos courtesy Emily Tafiti Murphy

The heart of this choir is Esther Macy, a born and bred La’ie resident who founded the choir back in 2001 in order, she says, to “give back to the place that helped me to grow and develop a love for music.”

“I’m always telling Esther, I’m so grateful for everything that she does because it’s a real sacrifice,” said Emily Tafiti Murphy, whose 10 year old, Aliia, sings with KCC. “I can only imagine the time that she puts into this choir. Sometimes she’ll email me back at like 2 a.m., and that means that she’s up in the middle of the night trying to get this stuff done along with her own family. It’s a real sacrifice, and I’m grateful for that because I’m sure that these are memories that my daughter will take with her and help her develop into a mature young woman–it will affect her for the rest of her life.”

And she’s really worked wonders with these kids, who are as varied culturally, economically, and socially as the area in which they live. Discipline is a big part of this choir, where ‘Early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable.’

“She’s really fun, but when we need to get something done she’s strict,” said 12-year old Jaasmine Lopes, one of the choir’s original members. Still, hard work is rewarded in this choir: “When we get it done she’s really happy with us,” a reaction I witnessed firsthand that morning after a particularly chicken-skin chord resonated throughout the ballroom.

“Sing like that (in the performance), and I’ll buy you guys ice cream!” a very pleased Macy called out from behind the piano.

Apparently, good old-fashioned bribery never goes out of style.

I love that there is an organization out here in Ko’olauloa that really teaches our children values like punctuality, hard work, leadership, and obedience–and all while the kids are having the time of their lives! I mean, I am a product of AYSO soccer out here, and we learned those values through sports, but many of my friends weren’t into athletics; this is something that they might have benefited from, had it been around when we were kids.

Says Jasmine’s mom, Jocelyn: “Its something that (Jasmine) loves to do. I’ve tried to encourage her to join sports as well, but nope. It’s been choir since day one. She loves choir. I’ve seen my daughter perform, and I know she loves music just by listening to her singing.”

In an area with a rich history of song and dance, it’s great to see these young performers work hard, earning invites to prestigious international choral festivals (they went to Europe a couple of summers ago, and are headed to New York next year) and earning their fares through fundraising within the community.

That said, make sure you buy a plate lunch in April and visit their garage sale at La’ie elementary in May. Think of it as an investment in the next generation of leaders here in Ko’olauloa.