Kauai Community College has the distinction of being the only community college in the University of Hawaii System with a full instrumental music ensemble program. The spring concert series will begin on May 5 with a performance by the Wind
Kauai Community College has the distinction of being the only community college in the University of Hawaii System with a full instrumental music ensemble program. The spring concert series will begin on May 5 with a performance by the Wind Symphony at 7 p.m. The ensemble will be joined by the Kauai Youth Honor Band, along with guest conductor Michael Nakasone, a retired Bandmaster of the Royal Hawaiian Band.
On May 6, the Jazz Ensemble will perform at 7 p.m. and will feature special guest artist Abe Lagrimas, Jr. The Symphony Orchestra will round out the series on May 7 at 4 p.m. with Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 1 in C Major” and “Finlandia” by Jean Sibelius. All three concerts will be held in the KCC Performing Arts Center and all are free with donations gratefully accepted. Contact: Sarah Tochiki at tochikis@hawaii.edu.
The New Creative Media Degree Program at Kauai Community College will host three workshops during the month of May. Attendees will have access to KCC’s Creative Media Lab iMac systems. The first session will be held on May 6 and is titled “Making the Keyboard Sing to Increase Productivity.” Presenter Chris Benzel will share time-saving tricks to prepare digital graphics for production using the Apple Operating System, Adobe Creative Cloud, Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign.
On May 13, Kepa Kruse, award-winning music producer, will describe the tools and processes used to create and add custom music to digital films. Attendees will have access to Adobe Premiere Pro and Audition software.
On May 20, participants will learn the basic features of Maya software to create powerful 3D images for gaming and digital film. Presenter Jeff Chasin (Production Manager, Disney’s “Zootopia”) will also provide an informative review of careers and roles in the animation industry.
All three of the workshops are free of charge, and will be held from 10 a.m. to noon in the KCC Creative Media Lab (ART2 Building). Space is limited. To reserve a seat for any of the workshops, contact Stephen Watkins at watkinss@hawaii.edu.
The KCC Math Department will hold a two-week intensive Math 100 course from May 22 to June 5. The class is open to all students who are willing and able to spend two weeks of their summer fully immersed in math. The course features a heavy emphasis on critical thinking, mathematical exploration and creativity. The class meets for two weeks, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with an additional day (June 5) for the final exam. Contact: Loni Delaplane (ldel@hawaii.edu) or Jon Kalk (Kalk@hawaii.edu).
After three years of hard work, the KCC Apiary recently received state certification and is now the only certified queen breeder on the island. Supplying queen bees is a service to the state, an opportunity for students to learn and a very important aspect of protecting and sustaining pollinators for agriculture and food production. The apiary is currently participating in a study of the unique genetic diversity of its bees, and some of the queens will be going to other islands as part of the study.
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Greg Shepherd is a music professor at Kauai Community College.
